Review: IOLANTHE, London Coliseum
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.
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Review: NABUCCO, Verdi's First Big Hit, Returns to the Met with a Terrifying Monastyrska
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.
Review: With a Different Perspective, UNHOLY WARS Shows What's Old is New Again at Opera Philadelphia
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
Review: PICTURE A DAY LIKE THIS, Royal Opera House
George Benjamin's slick new opera plays at the Royal Opera House after a critically acclaimed run at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
Review: Met Audience Entranced by DiDonato and McKinny in Heggie-McNally DEAD MAN in House Debut
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.
Review: Orth-Moscovitch Stunning MADHOUSE Tells of Women Past the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Philadelphia Opera Fest O23
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.
Review: Jonas Kaufmann Returns to New York in 'Anxious and Heavy' DOPPELGANGER
Another year, another Met season without Jonas Kaufmann.
Review: L'ELISIR D'AMORE, Royal Opera House
Liparit Avetsiyan lends emotional weight to an opera that veers a little too close to pantomime on occasion
Review: PETER GRIMES, London Coliseum
Deftly balances psychological thrill with morality as murky as the North Sea
Review: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, Royal Opera House
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
Review: THE MIKADO, Grimeborn, Arcola Theatre
It maintains the opera’s timeless charm, strong wit, and with a cast that never takes itself seriously, leads to an evening that has the audience roaring with laughter.
Review: Lise Davidsen's Recital at the Met will be a Hard Act for a DEAD MAN to Follow
The Metropolitan Opera somehow managed to upstage itself on Thursday, when it offered audiences a spectacular recital by Norwegian soprano Lisa Davidsen, with her excellent musical partner James Baillieu, on piano, 12 days before the company’s official opening night (the Jake Heggie-Terrence McNal
Review: Cape Town Opera's TOSCA is Lush and Transportive
What did our critic think of TOSCA at Cape Town Opera?
Review: DAS RHEINGOLD, Royal Opera House
Given his political radicalism and fervent romanticism, it is more than fair to wonder if Richard Wagner would be partial to Just Stop Oil.
Review: TURANDOT, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
The thrill of operatic voices singing up close and personal in a radical re-interpretation of an opera ripe for bringing into the 21st century
Review: RAGTIME at Union Avenue Opera
When the musical Ragtime was produced for Broadway in 1998 it was a colossal, big-budget show.
Review: DAS RHEINGOLD at McCaw Hall
The outstanding cast and provocative production, merged with Wagner’s indisputably monumental music and drama, made this Rheingold a de rigueur happening
Review: LOYOLA, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
Beautifully sung South American opera flawed a little by its overpowering religious messaging.
Review: TROUBLE IN TAHITI, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
Boutique opera now 72 years old but could have been written yesterday in terms of its music, its themes and its relevance, performed with verve and confidence
Review: RUDDIGORE, Opera Holland Park
Super show, a little slow at first, but blossoming into an escapist entertainment that can be enjoyed as much in the 2020s as it was in the 1880s
Review: In Saint-Saens' HENRI VIII, the King Has the Title but the Queens Are in Charge at Bard Festival
Donizetti’s so-called “Tudor Trilogy”--ANNA BOLENA, MARIA STUARDA and ROBERTO DEVEREUX (aka, “the one about Elizabeth I”)--suddenly has some competition on British history in opera: Camille Saint-Saens' HENRI VIII.
Review: DON PASQUALE at Union Avenue Opera
Scott Schoonover and his Union Avenue Opera have a long history (now twenty-nine years) of gathering remarkable operatic voices.
Review: NO FOR AN ANSWER, Grimeborn, Arcola Theatre
A strong score, neat production by Mehmet Ergen and an excellent cast make it worth a watch, even if it has several plot-related issues
Review: ITCH, Opera Holland Park
Jonathan Dove's music underpins and enhances the tale of a teen suddenly thrust into a world of corporate power and environmental exploitation
Review: Crutchfield's Teatro Nuovo Turns Fairy Godmother as CRISPINO Returns to New York
The famed playwright and wit George S.
