Review: TROUBLE IN TAHITI and THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, Opera Holland Park
Leonard Bernstein and Kurt Weill write great tunes and tell terrific stories in brilliant debut twin productions by Opera Prelude
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Review: BBC PROMS: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Royal Albert Hall
This production, direct from Glyndebourne, is a delight from start to finish, with laughter and glorious voices leading to a true emotional climax to send us soaring into the summer night.
Review: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
A real sense of fun lifts an already frothy opera, Mozart at his most mischievous
REVIEW: Impressive Singing in Strauss’s EGYPTIAN HELEN, but the Story’s a Mystery at SummerScape
If you ever wondered about the private life of the legendary Helen of Troy—aside from being a fabulous beauty whose face reputedly launched a thousand ships—you might look for answers in Richard Strauss’s opera DIE AEGIPTISCHE HELENA (THE EGYPTIAN HELEN).
Review: DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, Glyndebourne
It's over a decade since David McVicar’s glorious version of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) debuted at Glyndebourne.
Review: L'ELISIR D'AMORE, Dorset Opera Festival
The Dorset Opera Festival finds the perfect setting for Gaetano Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.
Review: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Glyndebourne Festival
Richard Strauss's opera within an opera, Ariadne aux Naxos, is a curious beast: a hybrid of spoken word and singing, a mix of musical influences and themes which ask whether high art can ever mix with popular entertainment.
Review: DON GIOVANNI a Bel Canto Opera? Crutchfield’s Teatro Nuovo Proves It
To “IL” or not to “IL”—that is the question.
Review: Teatro Nuovo Does It Again with Smashing TURCO IN ITALIA
While the US celebrates its 250th anniversary (with not much to cheer about), those bel canto specialists under Will Crutchfield at Teatro Nuovo are reveling in the 200th year since Italian opera (or at least opera in Italian) came to this country.
Review: Festival Napa Valley Perfectly Blends Music, Cuisine, and the Best of Wine Country
As Festival Napa Valley celebrates its 20th Anniversary Summer Season, running July 4–19, the opening weekend perfectly illustrated why the festival has become one of the country's most sought-after cultural destinations
Review: LA FILLE DU REGIMENT, Royal Ballet And Opera
All's fair in love and war — at least until the hero storms in on a tank.
Review: KING ROGER at Des Moines Metro Opera
This season, Des Moines Metro Opera is taking my favorite type of risk and doing an Opera that audiences might not be familiar with in their final, and most ambitious opera of the season, Karol Szymanowski's 'King Roger.
Review: EUGENE ONEGIN, The Grange Festival
Love, jealousy, arrogance, death and rejection, Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin has all the trappings of a grand opera, but in essence is a simple story.
Review: LA BOHÈME, Royal Ballet And Opera
On the opening night of director Richard Jones's excellent production of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, England's captain, Harry Kane, leads his team to the last 16 after scoring two goals against the Democratic of Congo in the World Cup.
Review: I PURITANI, Royal Ballet And Opera
Thirty-four years is a long time to leave an opera in the attic, and I puritani has spent most of that period gathering dust for good reason.
Review: TOSCA at La Monnaie
Before the curtain rises, a Pasolini quote appears.
Review: OF MICE AND MEN at Des Moines Metro Opera
As America celebrates is 250th birthday, 'Of Mice and Men' celebrates it and the 100th birthday of Carlise Floyd by revisiting this timeless story through a new lense.
Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Wrocław Opera
It's no secret that I'm obsessed with this balet ensemble.
Review: CENTER STAGE at Opera Theatre Of St. Louis
Opera Theatre of St.
Review: TOSCA at Des Moines Metro Opera
Summer has officially started with Des Moine Metro Opera's phenomenal production of 'Tosca.
Review: TURANDOT, Opera Holland Park
Less Orientalism, and less passion too, but the music sustains
Review: LA BOHÈME, The Grange Festival
Puccini's tear-jerker La bohème is always a crowd-pleaser for any opera festival.
Review: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at Opera Theatre Of St. Louis
Opera Theatre of St.
Review: GIULIO CESARE, The Grange Festival
A new version of Handel's 1724 opera Giulio Cesare is always an exciting prospect.
Review: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Royal Ballet And Opera
Mae West famously asked, 'Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?' Well, at the beginning of the relationship, he will no doubt be very happy to see you.