CLASSICAL MUSIC THEATER REVIEWS

The Union Avenue Opera completes its 30th season with a lavish production of Into the Woods.  It’s yet another large challenge for this small company—and once again they meet and conquer it with élan.    ...

The term has become familiar and beloved to opera lovers since the late 19th century. Seattle Opera offered Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, one of the most performed works of this genre, as its opening production of the 2024-25 season....

It was a one-two punch to fans of David Bowie in early 2016 when the rock star was suddenly pronounced dead and two days later, on what would have been his 69th birthday, released his final album, “Blackstar,” a preordained farewell addressing his demise....

This is my very first time at the Polish National Opera and as we all know, first times can be overrated. This is certainly not the case here....

This restaging of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR is a fitting tribute to Cape Town Opera's 25 years of artistic excellence. Under Gobbato's direction, the production not only honours the company’s past but also looks forward to its future, showcasing the enduring power of opera to move and inspire. ...

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has opened an utterly glorious production of his opera, Galileo Galilei. It reconfirms OTSL’s place among the finest opera companies in the world. And it will assuredly help you resolve your issues with Phillip Glass....

About halfway into her two-hour plus recital with tenor Joshua Guerrero, soprano Andrea Carroll gave a well-earned compliment to their accompanist Stephen Hopkins for his technique and versatility. Both were challenged during the unusually varied program the two singers had fashioned....

When a legendary diva, one of the great voices of the 20th century, announces her return to the New York stage after an absence of two decades, fans are generally overjoyed – at first – then curious – then trepidatious – finally, hopeful that the return will be a success. ...

Spring fever?  If you’ve been made a bit dozy by these warm spring days the new production at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis will, with a bang, hoist you wide awake in all your senses.  Rossini’s The Barber of Seville opened Saturday to an audience that packed the Loretto-Hilton theatre to the r...

The first act of Opera À La Carte’s production of La bohème featured costuming and well-used furniture that made Rodolfo’s bohemian Parisian garret seem more real than the elaborate expensive sets and costumes of many other productions. After all, Rodolfo (tenor Adam Caughey) and his three fri...

A sharp blade wielded threateningly, forced perspective creating looming palatial walls, the rotting heads of failed suitors, and a princess literally shrouded in mystery quickly orient us within Puccini’s iconic fairytale....

Simon Rattle is possibly the most interesting conductor before the public today.   And one thing audiences can count on is that no two performances he conducts will ever be identical.  There is no question that he brings forth fire and magical playing.  There is no question he bring forth colors...

Incredibly rich in detail --from staging to technical aspects-- and emboldened with Puccini’s soaring music and meticulous, intelligent direction by Francesca Zambello, Washington National Opera’s production of Turandot is a production for the ages. ...

On Saturday, April 20, 2024, PASO brought their program, Todo Tango, an intimate and fiery evening of tango to the Kennedy Center. ...

Yes, a grand opera was inserted at Belk Theater as the clock or calendar was winding down! Around the world, Callas, Nilsson, and Sutherland are among the divas who have graced the powerhouse role of TURANDOT, and Franco Zeffirelli's production at the Met is as revered for its stateliness and splend...

What did our critic think of COLORS BY DANIEL TEMKIN at Church Of The Intersession?...

Programming is a key element in the lifeblood of every symphony orchestra.  Finding the right blend of old and new, of familiar and unfamiliar, of modern and traditional, of the accessible and the more challenging; this is the task....

What did our critic think of SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall?...

What did our critic think of PLAY/WRITE at Planet M Records? There is much to unpack here in the way of unique sounds, colors and vibrations...

Read BroadwayWorld's review of Stephen Hough with the San Diego Symphony at San Diego Civic Center Theater....

There’s an awful lot of death in opera, Timothy O’Leary, the general director of Washington National Opera, lamented on a recent opening night. And those plentiful tragedies are also often further burdened with overbearing scores, turgid storylines, super-large casts and strident if not shrill p...

What did our critic think of NJSO PERFORMS STRAUSS, VIVALDI AND ESMAIL AT NJPAC at NJPAC?...

Arizona Opera's revival of Charles Gounod’s ROMEO ET JULIETTE is, by all measures, a triumph of staging and performance. Following its performances in Phoenix, the production moves to the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson AZ (March 9th and 10th)....

Winter Opera continues it’s seventeenth season with another iconic operetta—Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta.  This lovely old show premiered in 1910. It was produced by the first Oscar Hammerstein (the grandfather of you-know-who).  In 1935 a movie version was made—with Jeanette MacDonal...

It is as visually rich as it is aurally....