OPERA THEATER REVIEWS

When the Met's production of Rossini's L'ITALIANA IN ALGIERI made its debut in 1973, it must have seemed a welcome laugh riot. Think of it as a kind of Hope-Crosby “Road” picture from the '40s. Flip forward 43 years to last week, and the world has changed much--for better and worse--but “The R...

Richard Wagner's 'Ring' cycle is an intriguing opportunity to immerse oneself in an epic experience -- something akin to reading the 'Harry Potter' or 'Lord of the Rings' series, savoring each singular story, then eagerly anticipating the next installment....

For the sheer magnitude of its singing, there hasn't been anything like the Met's ecstatic new production of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE--seen a week after it opened the season on September 26--in a very long time....

On Site Opera is one of New York's most endearing little companies, under Artistic Director Eric Einhorn, frequently giving us a chance to hear unfamiliar works in congenial settings and get up close and personal with the performers. For its first benefit dinner, the company presented a double bill ...

When last seen at the Met , baritone Simon Keenlyside showed off his suave vocalism and superior acting skills in operas based on Shakespeare: He was elegant and intelligent in HAMLET by Ambroise Thomas and a charismatic Prospero in Thomas Ades's THE TEMPEST. He could have picked up on any of those...

Legend has it there were five encores at the triumphant Viennese premiere of Mozart and da Ponte's Le Nozze di Figaro on May 1, 1786. By the same token, Washington National Opera's new production of the effervescent comic opera deserved just as many ovations. Now playing through Sunday, October 2 in...

BREAKING THE WAVES, the stark, brutal new opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, had its premiere last week at Opera Philadelphia, with a thrilling score and a star-making turn by soprano Kiera Duffy. Directed by James Darrah, the gripping production doesn't let anyone off easy, including the aud...

I attended the world premiere of THE HUNGER, a new operatic work by Donnacha Dennehy in collaboration with the group Alarm Will Sound, and co-produced by Opera Theatre of St. Louis this weekend, and I was blown away by how affecting and compelling this 90 minute piece is. It's a multi-media exercise...

Hansel and Gretel struggle with the evil clown...

Deborah Cheetham's (Music and Libretto) moving contemporary Australian Opera PECAN SUMMER blends classical stylings with the heart wrenching truth of a not too distant past....

While listening to baritone Rod Gilfry's masterful, mesmerizing performance in the world premiere of David Lang's monodrama, THE LOSER, at BAM's “Next Wave Festival,” I thought I could listen to him sing the telephone book. Come to think of it, he came pretty close to that, at BAM's Howard Gilma...

After hearing Leoncavallo's I PAGLIACCI, on New York City Opera's new double bill with Rachmaninoff's ALEKO, I'll never think of it the same way again....

This was an evening of nothing but highlights....

On a beautiful summer evening, under a half moon sky, and with a gentle breeze wafting through the air, nothing could compare to seeing the final show of the season at The MUNY. They close with yet another stellar selection that's filled with flair and grace. This was especially important and eviden...

South African soprano Elza van den Heever has long had a 'date' with Beethoven's Leonore, in his only completed opera FIDELIO. It wasn't exactly a blind date—she has known for years that, eventually, she would take it on, she told me—but it was a roaring success in her role debut, at the Veneti...

The Union Avenue Opera just keeps presenting wonders! Their current production, Puccini's 'Tosca', is among the very best of their best-musically, vocally and in production values....

The opening program for this year's Mostly Mozart Festival—the 50th--at David Geffen Hall may not have offered any new insights into the mind of the genius composer or uncovered any long-lost masterpiece not heard in 200 years. On the other hand, it was filled with wonderful music, inspired singin...

It probably would have been worth the trip to Bard SummerScape's production of Pietro Mascagni's IRIS—last heard at the Met in 1931--simply to make the acquaintance of soprano Talise Trevigne. Through much suffering and indignity, Trevigne sang the title role in a luxurious, plush-voiced, physical...

McVicar's beautiful vision is paired with the wonderful voices of five of Australia's and one of America's finest singers and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra to expose the disturbing attitudes that unfortunately still prevail....

“The word and genre 'opera' is much broader and more inclusive in the 21st century than it was in the past,” says Huang Ruo, composer/co-librettist of PARADISE INTERRUPTED, his mesmerizing, tantalizing opera that was one of the opening selections of this year's Lincoln Center Festival....

Giuseppe Verdi's operatic masterpiece La Traviata opened triumphantly at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch last night to a capacity audience. This production marks a welcome return by New Zealand Opera to the theatre that, following an extensive restoration from the Canterbury earthquakes of t...

A simply splendid production of 'The Mikado' has opened at the Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis....

Songs From Behind the Front was presented by State Opera as part of the Flanders Fields Poppy Trail commemorations....

Incredibly strong singing voices and an astounding orchestra guided by conductor Mark Sforzini make for a top-flight production....

Sir Kenneth MacMillan silenced the Bard to the wordless storytelling of corporeal movement. His three-act Romeo & Juliet remounted at MetOpera this June 20-25, ennobled by three decades in American Ballet Theatre repertory....