OPERA THEATER REVIEWS

From the moment the amazing James Conlon-conducted orchestra began their crisp, lively 'Overture' to 'Quartet Finale,' the close of Act One; this remarkable production of CANDIDE entranced the Dorothy Chandler audience. Then after a short intermission, these talented performers and musicians had the...

Ok, y'all…I'm going to be honest. A cappella - or as my aunt, with her charming ignorance, would call it 'acapulco singing' - is just not my jam. Groups that sing sacred 'hits' without vibrato has never been a way I'd choose to spend an afternoon. Maybe it's because I suck at this type of singing?...

After a string of cancellations--including the Met's new TOSCA--tenor Jonas Kaufmann made a triumphant return to New York last Saturday at Carnegie Hall, in a recital with his frequent collaborator Helmut Deutsch. Of course, he could have been singing the telephone book and this audience would have ...

Composers and librettists were the stars Saturday night at The Kennedy Center's triple world premiere. For six years, the American Opera Initiative Festival (AOI) has selected three composer-librettist teams to create their own 20-minute operas under the guidance of a seasoned composer and librettis...

By the time you read this, another year's edition of PROTOTYPE--New York's two-week festival of new opera-theatre/music-theatre works different from most anything you've ever seen before--will be gone and it was another to be grateful for. The last event on my list was a totally original and stunnin...

Even if it were just for its history lesson about the lavender scare of the '50s-- the witch hunt and the mass firings of gay men and women from the federal government during the McCarthy era--FELLOW TRAVELERS by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce would be well worth seeing. But th...

'Memories of Things Past'--'A la recherche du temps perdu' in Proust-speak--and very much in the past it was, for me at least, going in to ACQUANETTA, the piece that opened this year's iteration of the PROTOTYPE. Its name and purported subject--horror films--conjured up childhood memories for me. Mu...

The trials and tribulations of the Met's new take on Puccini's TOSCA have been well documented--with all three principals replaced along with two conductors--and it would be nice to be able to say that everything came out happily-ever-after. Alas. There's nothing wrong with the company's surprise-fr...

I've always wondered what it would be like to swim in a pool of maple syrup and now I know. From the minute Ms. Barton opened her mouth, she unleashed a rolling tone that poured over her audience, soaking them in the sugary, maple tones of her delicious mezzo. We were drenched but in the way an i...

Watch out for the Intermezzo Series next year, as well as all of Co-Opera's touring productions....

It was great that the 2017 Richard Tucker Gala was heard live on WQXR.org and on WQXR radio on Sunday, but those of us who were in Carnegie Hall had it much better. This year's winner, soprano Nadine Sierra, sounded wonderful (and looked ravishing, by the way) as she whipped through Verdi's 'Caro n...

Nothing says Christmas in New York like a performance of Handel's great sacred oratorio MESSIAH--okay, for some it's the windows at one of the big department stores--with some outings decidedly religious, like this week's pair of wonderful performances at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. Featurin...

The Juilliard Orchestra and Opera beat the Met to the punch this week, featuring French conductor Emmanuel Villaume in a superb concert of Ravel and Debussy, including a lovely performance of Ravel's short opera, L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILEGES, with its clever libretto by the French novelist, Colette. I...

Nothing beats sitting in the opera house for the thrill of hearing singers giving their all. But the new recording of Berlioz's LES TROYENS (THE TROJANS), conducted by John Nelson, comes pretty close. Taken from a couple of live concert performances in Strasbourg, France, at the Salle Erasme, with a...

Washington Concert Opera brings a nicely performed La Straniera to Lisner Auditorium nearly two hundred years after its premiere at La Scala Milan. Vincenzo Bellini's first Milanese success took place in 1827 in the form of Il pirata. Two years later, he stood in a shadow of his own making. He neede...

The finest orchestra, finest opera chorus, and some of the finest soloists, what more could you want?...

Austin Opera continues its tradition of masterfully recreating classic operas with Bizet's CARMEN currently playing at The Long Center....

The best new production of the Gelb era is now ten years old. And it still has the power to please....

L'Opera de Montreal delights audiences with its production of Rossini's La Cenerentola. The show has a short run in Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place Des Arts November 11, 14, 16 and 18 at 7:30....

Winter Opera continues its tradition of stunning quality in its revival of 'The Student Prince'....

If a spouse transitions from one sex to another in a state where gay marriage is illegal, is the marriage still valid? There are many possible reactions to that question, including heated discussion, juvenile giggling, or reactionary distaste. Composer Laura Kaminsky chose empathy for those most dir...

Alcina showcases all the best aspects of Handel's skill without getting bogged down by melismatic asides. Every aria has a purpose. Every word moves the plot forward or gives depth to the characters. Indeed, the show moves briskly. (The 'approximately three hour' run time is a bit of an overstatemen...

Lincoln Center's White Light Festival devoted a pair of evenings last week to a staged performance of Pergolesi's gorgeous hymn to Mary, STABAT MATER, directed by choreographer Jessica Lang (originally done several years ago at the Glimmerglass Festival in upstate NY). It featured a pair of lyric so...

Canada is a country known for its musical talent. The Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio Competition, CENTRE STAGE, showcased a curated selection of that talent last night. The competition auditions singers from across the country and selects a few lucky artists to compete for an invitation to...

It's 'deja vu all over again' goes the quip attributed to the NY Yankees pitcher Yogi Berra. But that's the feeling I had with Thomas Ades's THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, with libretto based on the Luis Bunuel film, 'El angel exterminador,' by Tom Cairns and the composer. (Cairns also directed.) Not that...