NJ STATE OPERA

The famed playwright and wit George S. Kaufman once said, “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” One can only imagine what Kaufman--whose many credits include YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, as well as the source of Sondheim’s MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, which is circling Broadway for a return this fall--would have had to say about satiric operas. CRISPINO E LA COMARE (CRISPINO AND THE FAIRY GODMOTHER), a lively and lightweight 1850 comic piece that was was happily rescued from obscurity this week by...

Usually, when long-neglected works somehow find their way to the forefront, we find there’s a pretty good reason for the lack of interest. Happily for us, this does not apply to Donizetti’s POLIUTO, which Will Crutchfield’s Teatro Nuovo performed last weekend at Montclair State’s Kasser Theatre and on July 19th at Jazz from Lincoln Center’s Rose Theatre. It’s filled with wonderful music that the current performers--particularly the suave tenor of Argentine Santiago Ballerini in the title role an...