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BWW Review: ALCINA at Washington National Opera
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...
BWW Review: Soprano Chuchman Excels in Pergolesi STABAT MATER at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival
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...
BWW Review: Top 10 Moments from the COC's Ensemble Studio Competition
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...
BWW Review: EXTERMINATING ANGEL - Up Close and Personal with the Indiscreet Charms of the Upper Class at the Met
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...
BWW Review: EMMA MATTHEWS, JACQUELINE DARK, AND TAHU MATHESON at Ukaria Cultural Centre
Two of Australia's favourite artists, Emma Matthews and Jacqueline Dark....
BWW Review: CARMEN at Hart's Mill, Port Adelaide
Andrew Turner is sensational as Don Jose in this production....
BWW Review: City Opera's Chamber Version of DOLORES CLAIBORNE Proves Fitzgerald Was Wrong
There are no second acts in American lives, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in 'The Last Tycoon.' New York City Opera proves him wrong, with its new chamber version of the Tobias Picker-JD McClatchy 2013 opus DOLORES CLAIBORNE. Based on a novel by Stephen King perhaps better known from the film starring ...
BWW Review: DIE FLEDERMAUS at Her Majesty's Theatre
This was another winner for State Opera...
BWW Review: THE MERRY WIDOW Romances Milwaukee at The Florentine Opera Company
As a sometimes-self-identifying Millennial, it may come as little surprise that opera is relatively new territory for me. I've grown up as a lover of musical theater, but classic opera is a whole other ball o' wax. Mainstream media doesn't exactly drop Verdi, Mozart, Leh r, or even Gilbert & Sulliva...
BWW Review: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at San Diego Civic Center
The Pirates of Penzance--opera or operetta? The answer to that question seems important to some opera lovers who believe a 'serious' opera company doesn't do operettas. Too bad for them if their doubts made them miss out on San Diego Opera's hugely entertaining production. A nearly sold-out audience...
BWW Review: NABUCCO at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
On Oct 14, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, NABUCCO in a new and extremely well detailed production by Thaddeus Strassberger....
BWW Review: COC's ELIXIR OF LOVE is Charming to the Core
Small town charm is the fuel for the Canadian Opera Company's ELIXIR OF LOVE. Set in any town Ontario, Donizetti's beloved characters appear even more appealing and recognizable in James Robinson's quaint production. As part of the bel canto operatic repertoire, beautiful singing is an exception...
BWW Review: DON PASQUALE at Opera Studio
Director, Cath Dadd, has put together an hilarious production with a cast to die for....
BWW Review: Moved by WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED at Harlem's Apollo Theatre via Opera Philadelphia
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED, which made its NY debut in a pair of performances at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem last weekend, after its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia's O17 festival last month, is more than an opera or performance piece. And it sure as hell isn't an evening's entertainment. Compose...
BWW Review: Grigolo in Fine Form and Morley is a Doll in Met's HOFFMANN
There are no happy endings for the poet Hoffmann (even in the solid hands of the charismatic tenor Vittorio Grigolo) or any of the women he fantasizes about in Offenbach's LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (TALES OF HOFFMANN). Still, there are enough enjoyable moments to make Offenbach's music worth hearing onc...
BWW Review: THE PEARL FISHERS at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
On October 7, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Georges Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS starring sweet-voiced Mexican star tenor Javier Camarena as Nadir. Steel-voiced Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza, was Zurga, his rival for the hand of Leila, a beautiful priestess who had taken a vow of chastity....
BWW Review: Aucoin's CROSSING at BAM's New Wave Festival Hears America Singing and Crying
I wouldn't exactly call Matt Aucoin, 27, a show-off, even though he wrote the music and libretto for THE CROSSING--his 2015 opera having its NY debut at BAM's Next Wave Festival this past week--and conducted the performance as well. (He left the subtle, fine direction to Diane Paulus, who originally...
BWW Review: Canadian Opera Company's ARABELLA Sparkles in Every Way
Swanky sets, shimmering voices, sumptuous costumes - it all sparkles when met with sublime Strauss. The Canadian Opera Company presents the Canadian premiere of ARABELLA, a lyric comedy by Richard Strauss. A co-production with Santa Fe Opera and Minnesota Opera, ARABELLA is sung in German with Engli...
BWW Review: BORGIA INFAMI Premieres at the Edison Theatre
Now, modern scholars tend to exonerate Lucrezia from being the diabolical poisoner that her enemies have portrayed for 400 years. But let's face it, that diabolical Lucrezia makes much better opera. Donizetti knew that, as shown in his 1833 opera about her. Victor Hugo displayed the same sensibility...
BWW Review: Radvanovsky is a Blazing NORMA, DiDonato Shines in New Met Production
The trio of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, mezzo Joyce DiDonato and tenor Joseph Calleja promised a fine evening of singing for the Met's new NORMA and, for the most part, there wasn't much to quibble about. Too bad Sir David McVicar--and his design team--couldn't come up with something a little bolder...
BWW Review: A Whirlwind Named ELIZABETH CREE by Puts and Campbell Blows into Opera Philadelphia
Winston Churchill called Russia 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.' Well, Mother Russia had nothing on ELIZABETH CREE, the new chamber opera by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell, based on Peter Ackroyd's novel--having all those traits plus a brilliant score and a smart libretto that raced f...
BWW Review: Of Fairy Tales and Trials at Opera Philadelphia's WAKE WORLD and MAGIC FLUTE
Superficially, Wolfgang Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE (or DIE ZAUBERFLOTE for you purists) and David Hertzberg's THE WAKE WORLD couldn't seem less alike and, taken together, they stretch the definition of what makes an opera. Yet, as part of Opera Philadelphia's daring new O17 opera festival, they have a...
BWW Review: FOUR NIGHTS in a Single Evening at the Japan Society
FOUR NIGHTS OF DREAM, composer/librettist Moto Osada's opera performed in its US premiere last week at the Japan Society, is based on a cornerstone of 20th century Japanese literature, 'Ten Nights of Dream' by Natsume Soseki. While the four stories Osada has chosen may seem stylized and foreign to ...
BWW Review: STL Opera Collective Presents TESLA'S PIGEON and TO HELL AND BACK
Since our resident opera critic, Steve Callahan, was appearing in one of the pocket operas produced this past weekend (September 8-9, 2017) by the STL Opera Collective, he asked if I would cover the shows, and I was happy to do so. This is a group that is just in their second season, but judging b...
BWW Review: AIDA is a Visual and Auditory Sensation at The Kennedy Center
Verdi's sumptuous epic AIDA graces the Kennedy Center for the first time in more than 25 years, and it is a knock-out. The three hour visual and auditory spectacle helmed by director Francesca Zambello and conductor Evan Rogister with original sketches and concept design by famed visual artist RET...
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