LIBRETTO

Back in December, I saw the chamber version of John Adams’s EL NINO—dubbed EL NINO: NATIVITY RECONSIDERED—at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Pared down to its essence, it was wonderful, starred two of the singers who made their debuts in the premiere at the Met, soprano Julia Bullock and bass-baritone Davone Tines plus countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, who were at their best. It was a somber evening in a dramatic setting—a far cry from the oratorio/opera’s over-the-top welcome to Lincoln...

Explore THE ELECTRONIC LOVER, a tragicomic opera in 9 episodes by Lisa Mezzacappa and Beth Lisick....

It’s easy to understand why Neal Goren, founder and artistic director of Catapult Opera, was immediately taken with LA VILLE MORTE. (His program notes say, “Upon receiving the piano-vocal score, I found myself sighing in ecstasy…”) First, the name Nadia Boulanger is magic in 20th century music—in music history in general, for that matter—though not for her own compositions....

It was tough separating the opera from the event when FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES opened the first post-Covid pandemic season at the Met. Back then, in September 2021, FIRE made history as the first opera by a Black composer, Terence Blanchard with his librettist Kasi Lemmons (based on the book by Charles M. Blow), to make its way to the Met stage. This week, it returned to show that contemporary opera can have “legs” on the big stage of the company....

If you cross the traditional EUGENE ONEGIN by Tchaikovsky (great even when overfilled with drama and, yes, music music music, with Konstantin Shilovsky’s co-libretto) with a touch of Ken Russell’s 1971 “The Music Lovers” (the overwrought bio-pic of Tchaikovsky with Richard Chamberlin and Glenda Jackson as his patron and wife that took the composer out of the closet for anyone who didn’t know he was there), and you might have an idea of what Heartbeat Opera’s version of the opera-cum-composer’s t...

Catapult Opera's production of Nadia Boulanger's La Ville Morte will mark the first time New York audiences will get to experience her sole opera. ...

Having previously partnered in 2016 and 2017 on the New York premieres of the contemporary operas Charlie Parker's Yardbird and We Shall Not Be Moved, The Apollo and Opera Philadelphia have announced a new, multi-year partnership that will support the creation of new operatic work by Black artists....

Will Berger is a renaissance man on a mission.  When he's not lecturing on classical music and opera, or writing the commentaries for the Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius, or co-hosting the live Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, or producing (and writing) the broadcasts' Met Opera Quiz, or writing books (Wagner Without Fear (1998), Verdi With a Vengeance (2000), Puccini Without Excuses (2005), all published by Random House) he's writing the libretto for a new Jazz Metal Opera!  ...

Composers can’t seem to keep away from the Orpheus story. Why not? It’s a juicy one, drawing on the Greek myth about a man who tries to use the power of music to rescue his beloved wife from Hades....

OPERA America has announced the recipients of its 2024 Repertoire Development Grants. ...

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA—A MASKED BALL—certainly makes for a juicy opera, on paper at least. It has a plot filled with passion, jealousy and conspiracies, and a score by Giuseppe Verdi that has some of his most memorable music, including a great duet, plus unforgettable arias for soprano, tenor and baritone, and some first-rate music for secondary characters (Ulrica the fortune teller and Oscar the pants-role page) and chorus. The production at Barcelona’s gorgeous Grand Liceu Theatre didn’t stint o...

It’s always a joy to see the Juilliard Opera/Juilliard Historical Performance department perform in the intimate realm of the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theatre, where the audience is up close and personal to the action on stage. Last week’s performances of Francesco Cavalli’s ERISMENA happily fell neatly into that category. Even with a libretto that’s had more lives than the proverbial cat, the work manages to weave its magic....

Teatro Grattacielo proudly has revealed its 30th anniversary season. See full programming and learn how to purchase tickets. ...

Another year has come to an end for the Prototype Festival of new opera theatre-music theatre, under the banner of Beth Morrison Projects and HERE. For those of us who couldn’t make it to all the shows on display at various venues around town, it’s always something of a crapshoot: Which ones do you choose? This week, for me, it was the Mary Kouyoumdjian-Royce Vavrek ADORATION, based on the eponymous Atom Egoyan film....

Huang Ruo’s artistically bold, viscerally devastating ANGEL ISLAND had its local debut the other night at BAM’s Harvey Theatre on Brooklyn’s Fulton Street, produced by Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and BAM. Its New York premiere is part of the annual Prototype Festival of opera theatre-music theatre--co-founded by BMP and HERE--which has been bringing challenging contemporary works of different stripes to town since 2013....

On Site Opera presents an immersive production of Bach's Coffee Cantata at The Lost Draft Coffee Shop in NYC. Experience a unique blend of opera, music, and comedy....