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BWW Review: NABUCCO at The Metropolitan Opera
"Power to the people" could very well be the mantra for the gorgeous opera Nabucco highlighted by the inspiring Va Pensiero chorus sung by the Hebrew slaves as they pray to G-d for their dream to return to their homeland of Jerusalem to take flight. As I sat in the Metropolitan opera house recent...
BWW Review: Joyce DiDonato Brings WAR & PEACE, Baroque-Style, to Carnegie Hall
At IN WAR & PEACE, HARMONY THROUGH MUSIC, her Carnegie Hall concert the other night with the Baroque ensemble, Il Pomo d'Oro, mezzo Joyce DiDonato was in fine voice, if not in high spirits—and who could blame her? The state of the world is about as bad as it has been for a long time, with death an...
BWW Review: Stunning Phillips in Saariaho's Mesmerizing L'AMOUR DE LOIN at the Met
On paper, it might seem that Kaija Saariaho's L'AMOUR DE LOIN (LOVE FROM AFAR), libretto by Amin Maalouf, couldn't possibly fill a stage the size of the Met's: three characters and a chorus that bobs in and out of the action. Yet, in action, this breathtaking, shimmering piece not only seems at home...
BWW Review: Racette Strips to Essentials as Opera's Ultimate Mean Girl, SALOME, at the Met
Despite some fine singing from soprano Patricia Racette (who also went the Full Monty in the title role), the Met's revival of Richard Strauss's SALOME was a little tame--something that it should never be....
BWW Review: MacTheatre Shines in MOON OVER BUFFALO
Performers love nothing more than to poke fun of themselves. In the McCallum Fine Arts Academy's production of MOON OVER BUFFALO, director Joshua Denning has assembled this small cast of exceptionally talented teenagers to do just that. But make no mistake; the young artists at McCallum are not typ...
BWW Review: In Series Stages Rare GOYESCAS
Leave it to the venerable In Series to mark the 100th anniversary of Enrique Granados' rarely heard and even more rarely seen opera 'Goyescas.'...
BWW REVIEW: Sydney Symphony Orchestra Presents A Staged Concert Version of The Gershwin's PORGY AND BESS
The rarely performed 1930's American Opera, PORGY AND BESS is given a Staged Concert treatment by Director Mitchell Butel with the support of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs....
BWW Review: Renee Fleming Glows in the Desert Sun of Kevin Puts' LETTERS FROM GEORGIA
Georgia O'Keeffe dressed in monk-like clothes and probably wouldn't have worn lipstick on a dare--hardly the image you'd associate with glamorous soprano Renee Fleming. But when Fleming opened her mouth and began to sing the first of the five songs in Kevin Puts' song cycle, LETTERS FROM GEORGIA, at...
BWW Review: TOSCA at Adelaide Festival Theatre
Tosca is a 'must see' for any lover of opera...
BWW Review: THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT at Washington National Opera
Despite it's bombastic and highly visible ensemble of cheery papas, THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT is a showcase for its two stars, Oropesa and Brownlee....
BWW Review: Where is Heroic GUILLAUME TELL Now that We Need Him? On Stage at the Met
Always looking for new worlds to conquer, Gioachino Rossini wrote GUILLAUME TELL in French, as Paris became the center of the opera world. Despite his successes there, this was to be his operatic swan song, a story glorifying a revolutionary character--with a message that resonated, loud and strong,...
BWW Review: War Is Hell but the Puts-Campbell SILENT NIGHT Is a Wonder in Atlanta
If "satire is what closes on Saturday night" (according to the great playwright and wit George S. Kaufman), then contemporary opera is usually not far behind. That is, unless it's Kevin Puts' and Mark Campbell's prize-winning SILENT NIGHT, which actually opened on Saturday night (this past weekend) ...
BWW Review: Karita Mattila Steals the Show in Janacek's JENUFA at the Met
The opera's called JENUFA, after the unfortunate young woman at the center of its story. But the star of the show at the Met's revival of this soaring musical masterpiece by Janacek is the Kostelnicka of the magnificent Finnish soprano Karita Mattila....
BWW Review: Houston Grand Opera's FAUST Pulls Out All the Stops
HGO's production of Gounod's FAUST puts the 'grand' in grand opera. The current production has all the bells and whistles - a timeless story, a top-notch cast, the costumes, sets and lighting of an all-out extravaganza. In short, it has everything the word 'opera' conjures up. And it's at the Wortha...
BWW Review: An Old-Fashioned Opera Hoedown at Carnegie Hall's Richard Tucker Gala
Returning to Carnegie Hall this year after more than 25 years, the Richard Tucker Gala—celebrating the current winner of the Richard Tucker Award, soprano Tamara Wilson, as well as the life and career of the famed tenor for whom it was named—was a grand night for singing....
BWW Review: A VERY MERRY WIDOW at Winter Opera
Winter Opera waltzes St. Louis into fin de siecle Paris with 'The Merry Widow'...
BWW REVIEW: Technology and Design Combine With Modern Opera In Opera Australia's Unique “Silent Opera” Staging Of SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE – THE OPERA, THE EIGHTH WONDER
Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Opera Australia, the innovative staging of SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - THE OPERA, THE EIGHTH WONDER blends technology and tradition with the iconic sails as a backdrop....
BWW Review: ELIXIR OF LOVE at Houston Grand Opera
BWW Review: Houston Grand Opera opens the season with an eye-popping ELIXIR OF LOVE...
BWW Review: '27' is a Diverting Evening on the Left Bank with Gertrude and Alice B.
In many ways, '27'--the 90-minute the chamber opera about Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas and their circle, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a Royce Vavrek libretto--is an old-fashioned love story. It just happens to be about two women who entertained and collected (in all senses) some of the most im...
BWW Review: DAS BARBECÜ at the Spotlighters
TheValkyries are riding into Texas with DAS BARBECÜ, a tall tale of gods, heroes, good, evil, quests, curses, bling, rings and a buffet fit for Valhalla. Come to the best barbecue in town at the Spotlighters, a small space with big ideas....
BWW Review: On the Road to ALGIERI with Rossini's L'ITALIANA at the Met
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...
BWW Review: Wagner's Music Shines in DAS RHEINGOLD
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....
BWW Review: The Agony and Ecstasy of the Met's New TRISTAN UND ISOLDE
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....
BWW Review: It's CLEOPATRE Meets HAVISHAM at On Site Opera's Benefit
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 ...
BWW Review: Keenlyside Returns to Met with a Low-Key DON GIOVANNI
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...
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