A grandly sung revival of The Ballad of Baby Doe at Central City Opera mines poignance from America’s past and present.
Baritone Quinn Kelsey’s recital of English-language art songs in partnership with pianist Craig Ketter was a worthy celebration of Vocal Arts DC’s 35th-anniversary season.
Some operas carry around the shadow of their most famous interpreters more than others.
These are my findings and opinions (and I welcome rebuttals)!
Nathan Hull was an operatic Quixote who did not go it alone, but inspired bands of optimists, giving proper employment to the many worthy New Yorkers mad enough to study voice and pleasure rare elsewhere to those of us thrilled to take it in.
Anna Netrebko sang throughout with a palpable sense of joy and ease in vocal production, never a hint of strain or any moment forced.
Norman Dello Joio, who was knocking about winning prizes for film and TV scores, composed The Trial at Rouen, his second opera on the subject, for NBC.
Flotow’s Martha, a work of 1847 that was popular around the world for a hundred years.
Douglas Moore’s score for The Ballad of Baby Doe has everything that could please and little that could offend.
Since Gilbert and Sullivan remain constant in the light-opera repertory, somewhere between Fledermaus and Les Mis in popular esteem, there must be good reasons their final collaboration, The Grand Duke, is seldom revived.
Our own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin goes all-American with a performance of The Ballad of Baby Doe starring Ruth Ann Swenson, James Morris and Judith Forst.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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