Review: JENŮFA, London Coliseum
Opera is not short of stories where women are violated and abandoned by the men in their lives but Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa is an especially cruel tale.
Opera Theater Reviews
The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Opera.
Our Opera Critics
View All ›
Review: Yahoo for Ermonela Jaho! at Palau de la Musica Tribute to Victoria de los Angeles
It’s hard to compete with a dazzling concert hall like Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica Catalana—designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, one of Antonio Gaudi’s contemporaries in the modernista style.
Review: SONGBIRD at Kennedy Center
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.
Review: Sierra, Bernheim Soar in the Met's ROMEO ET JULIETTE
While I’ve admired soprano Nadine Sierra’s before, she seemed to reach a whole new level with her glorious turn as Juliette in the season’s first performance of Gounod’s ROMEO ET JULIETTE at the Met the other night.
Review: Lively ORFEO in Concert at Barcelona's Liceu Opera from Maestro Rene Jacobs
Composers can’t seem to keep away from the Orpheus story.
Review: ROMEO ET JULIETTE at Arizona Opera
Arizona Opera's revival of Charles Gounod’s ROMEO ET JULIETTE is, by all measures, a triumph of staging and performance.
Review: NAUGHTY MARIETTA at Kirkwood Performing Arts Center
Winter Opera continues it’s seventeenth season with another iconic operetta—Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta.
Review: Another BALLO, Another Peculiar Reinvention, at Barcelona's Liceu, under Riccardo Frizza
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA—A MASKED BALL—certainly makes for a juicy opera, on paper at least.
Review: THE NIGHTINGALE AND OTHER FABLES – ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2024 at Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
It is as visually rich as it is aurally.
Review: Juilliard's ERISMENA Goes for Truly Baroque with Game Cast under Heijboer Castanon
It’s always a joy to see the Juilliard Opera/Juilliard Historical Performance department perform in the intimate realm of the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theatre, where the audience is up close and personal to the action on stage.
Review: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, Royal Opera House
Albery’s revival of his Flying Dutchman simply works: with a great cast and a smooth atmosphere created by a dreamlike ship-inspired set, it all builds towards a Gesamtkunstwerk that Wagner might have enjoyed himself.
Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE, London Coliseum
It’s odd to watch an opera where the actual opera is an afterthought.
Review: What's the Destiny of the Met's New FORZA? Close Your Eyes and Listen to the Fine Cast
Much was made of the fact that it’s been almost 20 years since Verdi’s LA FORZA DEL DESTINO was last seen at the Met.
Review: X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X at McCaw Hall
Without doubt a definitive event for Seattle Opera, and worth experiencing in all of its many extraordinary aspects.
Review: THE DUCHESS OF PADUA, The Space
Edward Lambert's Duchess of Padua is packed full with stunning music that brings Oscar Wilde's early melodramatic epic of love and revenge to life.
Review: Boston Lyric Opera's THE ANONYMOUS LOVER is a Joyous Delight
What did our critic think of THE ANONYMOUS LOVER at Boston Lyric Opera?
Review: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, English National Opera, London Coliseum
The longstanding favourite is all very slick but, 37 years on, the production is showing its age
Review: Renée Fleming Dazzles with VOICE OF NATURE: THE ANTHROPOCENE at Symphony Hall
What did our critic think of VOICE OF NATURE: THE ANTHROPOCENE at Symphony Hall? With her sold-out Celebrity Series of Boston performance this past Sunday at Symphony Hall, Renée Fleming offered a splendid reminder, although none is needed, of why she is widely considered to be the preeminent Ameri
Review: San Diego Opera's Production of Mozart's DON GIOVANNI at San Diego Civic Center Theater
San Diego Opera’s most recent production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni is an example of how opera companies hope to attract younger audiences while coping with rising costs and smaller budgets.
Review: LISE DAVIDSEN's 'Wesendonck Lieder” Highlights Met Orchestra Concert at Carnegie under Nezet-Seguin
The foray of the Met Orchestra under Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin into the concert hall the other night—Carnegie Hall to be specific, during its “Fall of the Weimar” series—was in some ways like a three-part meal that mixed the order of the courses.
Review: CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA at Austin Opera
Music by José “Pepe” Martinez, Lyrics by José “Pepe” Martinez and Leonard Foglia, Book by Leonard Foglia, Orchestration by David Hanlon, CRUZAR offers a deeply moving and acutely transparent experience.
Review: Edmonton Opera Re-Imagines DON GIOVANNI Through a Modern Canadian Lens
Opera’s most notorious ladies’ man has returned to The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
Review: THE HANDMAID'S TALE, English National Opera, London Coliseum
Paul Ruder's opera, based on Margaret Atwood's celebrated novel, has, frighteningly, gained more relevance since its premiere in 2000
Review: Audra McDonald in Concert with The National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Audra McDonald has (at least) four voices--Broadway, jazz, opera, blues--not to mention six Tonys.
Review: AMERICAN OPERA INITIATIVE: Three 20-Minute Operas at Kennedy Center
What did our critic think of AMERICAN OPERA INITIATIVE: THREE 20-MINUTE OPERAS at Kennedy Center?
