Originally scheduled for a D.C. premiere in spring 2020 but thwarted by the pandemic, Washington National Opera was finally able to present composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson’s Blue at the Kennedy Center last Saturday.
By Alex Baker
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If it is true that there are few respectable ways for people over 40 without small children to celebrate Halloween, a performance of Richard Strauss’ pioneering horror opera Elektra belongs on the short list.
By Alex Baker
It’s maybe not a surprise that Carmen is neither a good vocal nor temperamental fit for Isabel Leonard.
By Harry Rose
In 2022, making Così fan tutte intimate is not a radical act. Making it enjoyable, however, is.
By Harry Rose
As long as women have been preyed upon, Don Giovanni has been relevant.
By Harry Rose
Renée Fleming—stylish dame with a stylish name—who lived by jungle law in a big city and clawed her way to where the money was…
By La Cieca
While Russell Thomas admirably goes toe to toe with Otello (and Otello) in a thoughtful and self-aware way, the assumption feels like a work in progress if not an outright mismatch with his vocal gifts.
By Harry Rose
Tosca, as it exists now, can’t be real, spontaneous drama-it’s just Camp.
By Harry Rose
Is there any opera that can take more of a beating while still making an impact than Eugene Onegin?
By Harry Rose
Give the creators credit for producing an emotional response.
By John Yohalem
The Barber of Seville turned out to be the most overall solid production of the year and even a bit of old-fashioned fun.
By Harry Rose
I mean, how often does one get to hear Bernstein’s gorgeous, rollicking, and varied score nursed by a full orchestra and the artistic resources of an opera company?
By Harry Rose
A regular day in 2018 Washington, D.C., or Verdi’s Don Carlo?
By Harry Rose
Out of a literal perforation in the horizon of the Nebraskan prairie emerges Proving Up, the most convincing case I have ever seen for modern American opera.
By Harry Rose
In November, everyone wanted to hear more about Jonas Kaufmann‘s Johnson.
By La Cieca
Washington National Opera’s lukewarm Alcina, unthreateningly misguided in both its musical and theatrical values, made little impact.
By Harry Rose
Going into Washington National Opera’s final presentation of the season, Madama Butterfly, I feared that I might be geisha’d out.
By Alex Baker
Washington National Opera continued a focus on recent works this season with Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s 2013 opera Champion on the life of boxer Emile Griffith.
By Alex Baker
The opera is relentlessly obvious, a work that repeatedly turns to tired tropes and canned characters to fill up its nearly three hour run time.
By Alex Baker
Isn’t it inspiring how deeply Francesca Zambello has sunk her tentacles into the heart of American opera?
By La Cieca
Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, now in its 5th year, keeps the opera flame alight at the Kennedy Center during the long winter stretch between mainstage WNO productions.
By Alex Baker
Washington National Opera offered a shellshocked D.C. some much-needed diversion Saturday night, with a new production of La Fille du Regiment.
By Alex Baker
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes her curtain call.
By La Cieca
