OPERA THEATER REVIEWS

300 years have passed since Jephtha, Handel’s Greek tragedy-infused oratorio, was heard at Covent Garden. Now a lustrous new production helmed by artistic director Oliver Mears begs the question: is it a lost classic? Or one to consign to the history books?...

MasterVoices, under Ted Sperling, found THE FROGS irresistible—and the result was a hit, or, as Shakespeare wrote in “Hamlet”: “A hit, a very palpable hit.” With its libretto by Burt Shevelove and Nathan Lane (and Nathan Lane again), it fit the stage of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Thea...

The oft-told tale of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which has been beloved throughout the ages and been interpreted and showcased in so many films, stage productions and even a ballet ---has been mounted by the Washington National Opera in an odd sort of manner. In composer Charles Gounod�...

It’s taken a long time for X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X—the rediscovered and revised ‘80s work by Anthony Davis, Thulani Davis and Christopher Davis, in Robert O’Hara’s production and conducted by Kazem Abdullah--to cross the plaza from what was the old City Opera at New York State T...

​​​​​​​Celebrated performance artist Marina Abramović is very much in town: as well as a huge exhibition of her works at the Royal Academy, this “opera project” in London’s largest West End theatre sees her explore the life, works and final moments of the diva’s diva Maria Cal...

An historic recording of golden age tenor Richard Tucker singing “Sound an Alarm” from Handel’s JUDAS MACCABEUS” set the tone for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s Gala concert at Carnegie Hall. There was wonderful singing ahead of us—but of a certain kind. Like many other classical...

What did our critic think of GRAMMY® GREATS UNITE – LATONIA MOORE AND J’NAI BRIDGES IN CONCERT at Balboa Theatre?...

The beautiful blue skies that Jess, an F-16 fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, soars through from the mighty heights above soon become mottled with dismal greys ---as she plummets into mental despair and confusion after being Grounded. In the paradigm-changing opera which is a World Premiere by th...

London company Gothic Opera returns to Hoxton Hall for their fifth outing and their take on French composer Robert Planquette's Rip Van Winkle....

LA TRAVIATA needs little introduction. As one of Verdi’s most famous operas, it has moved audiences since the mid-1800s. This production, presented by Cape Town Opera and UCT Opera is no different. Indeed, the show is best described as a sensory overload (in the best way) from start to finish....

Much shorter than Richard Eyre’s three-hour plus version for the ROH, Peter Konwitschny’s La Traviata perhaps should be renamed La Trav or L’ Abbreviata. Its breathless sprint over 105 uninterrupted minutes takes more than it gives but there’s an admirable boldness to it all....

One of the troubles of being a major institution like the Met is that when they produce a new production of a major opera--and Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, which opened in revival the other night, certainly falls into that category--it’s an expensive undertaking. It's true that sometimes a prod...

One of the world’s most beloved operas returns to Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium! Carmen takes the spotlight on October 21 and 24. ...

What did our critic think of ALCINA It’s worth going to see for the glorious music and courageous, proficient singing...

Mears’s production demonstrates a keen feel for drama and a genuinely brilliant reading of Verdi’s opera; when juxtaposed with a musical interpretation as potent as this, it’s a production not likely to be forgotten....

If a revival is akin to colouring in someone else’s artwork, Cal McCrystal’s Iolanthe for the ENO does so with every shade under the sun....

The Met’s production of NABUCCO from Elijah Moshinsky may date back to 2001 but its style hearkens back even further--a fancy, old-fashioned unit set that uses the house’s big turntable--and it’s a whale of a show, design-wise, thanks to John Napier’s scenic design....

According to creator and star tenor Karim Sulayman, UNHOLY WARS, a 70-minute opera pastiche that made its debut on Saturday at Philadelphia Opera’s O23 Festival, “stitches together a collection of baroque music centered around the Middle East and the Crusades, examining the separation of the hum...

George Benjamin's slick new opera plays at the Royal Opera House after a critically acclaimed run at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence...

It’s rather surprising, really, for the audience to embrace a contemporary piece like DEAD MAN WALKING, no matter how easily it falls upon the ears, considering the subject matter. In this Ivo van Hove production, it starts with a rape and double murder in a rather graphic piece of film, the use o...

When composer Rene Orth came across the story of investigative reporter Nellie Bly’s expose of the abuse of women at an asylum in New York at the end of the 19th century, she immediately knew that “this story needed to be told as an opera.” She was right. The result of her efforts, with the f...

Another year, another Met season without Jonas Kaufmann. Sigh. What’s a music lover to do? His current set of performances is at the Park Avenue Armory’s Drill Hall--in a staged production by Claud Guth, commissioned by the Armory, of Schubert lieder, under the title DOPPELGANGER. It's an evenin...

Liparit Avetsiyan lends emotional weight to an opera that veers a little too close to pantomime on occasion...

Deftly balances psychological thrill with morality as murky as the North Sea...

Sondra Radvanovsky, Brian Jagde and Etienne Dupuis lead a wonderful cast and orchestra in a near-overwhelming production that fully justifies its four hours running time...