Review: MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Royal Opera House
There’s a singular simplicity in Madama Butterfly that draws in audiences year after year, decade by decade like moths to a flame: a man loves and leaves a woman; she gives up everything for him.
Opera Theater Reviews
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Review: COSÌ FAN TUTTE, Royal Opera House
Has opera found its own Ivo van Hove? Jan Philipp Gloger’s radical production of Così fan tutte continues until 10 July.
Review: CARMEN at Union Avenue Opera
Saint Louis’ Union Avenue Opera is celebrating the start of it’s thirtieth year with a superb production of Bizet’s Carmen! (Thirty years—that’s twenty-nine seasons.
Review: EDGAR, Opera Holland Park
A curious opera that is beautiful and ugly all at once
Review: TOSCA, Royal Opera House
Fronted by some fresh faces, Jonathan Kent’s cinematic take on the Puccini masterwork Tosca returns for its seventeenth run at Covent Garden.
Review: LA VIE BOHEME at Polish National Opera
This is my very first time at the Polish National Opera and as we all know, first times can be overrated.
Review: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR at Artscape, Opera House
This restaging of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR is a fitting tribute to Cape Town Opera's 25 years of artistic excellence.
Review: GALILEO GALILEI at Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has opened an utterly glorious production of his opera, Galileo Galilei.
Review: San Diego Opera Presents Andrea Carroll and Joshua Guerrero in Recital at Balboa Theatre
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.
Review: Audience Is 'Gaga' for Soprano Asmik Grigorian in Recital at Vienna State Opera
There was a buzz in the lobby of the opera house and scalpers galore outside the doors to the ticket office for soprano Asmik Grigorian’s recent sell-out concert at the Vienna State Opera.
Review: JULIUS CAESAR at Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis
Handel's 'Julius Caesar' opens at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Review: Trauma in Two Nights, as SALOME follows TURANDOT to the Analyst's Couch in Vienna
I couldn’t help but wondering whether the scheduling last week of two recent productions at the Vienna State Opera, Claus Guth’s TURANDOT and Cyril Teste’s SALOME, on subsequent nights had anything more than the availability of the stars behind it.
Review: In Freud's Vienna, Grigorian Thrills as Anguished TURANDOT under Kober
Perhaps it’s only fitting in a town that’s known for art, music and psychoanalysis (and maybe a little whipped cream on the side), that the Vienna State Opera’s production of Puccini’s TURANDOT—with the stunning soprano Asmik Grigorian in the title role—features a traumatized characteriz
Review: LA BOHEME at Opera Theatre Of Saint Louis
You'll fall in love with Puccini yet again.
Interview: David Lefkowich of SUOR ANGELICA at Out Of The Box Opera
What did our critic think of SUOR ANGELICA at Out Of The Box Opera?
Review: TOSCA, Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park open the season with a faithful revival of a much loved classic
Review: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at Opera Theatre Of St. Louis
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.
Review: THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE at Shakespeare Theatre/Klein Theatre
What did our critic think of THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE at Shakespeare Theatre/Klein Theatre?
Review: OPERA À LA CARTE'S PRODUCTION OF LA BOHÈME at Tenth Avenue Arts Center In East Village
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.
Review: TURANDOT at LA Opera
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.
Review: What the Hades – the Met Brings Back Morris's Lovely ORFEO with Costanzo
Considering all the productions in the Met’s repertoire that have been conceived (or, perhaps more justly, concocted) by directors from other media who don’t seem to understand or like opera, Mark Morris is a gem.
Review: AN AMERICAN SOLDIER Is a Horror Story of Brutality and Abuse
“Why did I enlist? Why did I go to war?” are but two of the questions that Private Danny Chen asks himself in the powerful docu-opera, AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang.
Review: L'OLIMPIADE, Royal Opera House
Irish National Opera bring a touring production to London in what might prove to be a show for the purists
Review: TURANDOT performed by Washington National Opera at Kennedy Center
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.
Review: Exquisite THE HOURS by Puts Triumphs Again at the Met under Watanabe
When I first heard Kevin Puts’s gorgeous, melodic score for THE HOURS back in 2022, I was blown away, thinking it was almost too good to be true.
