Review: Spectacular Nadine Sierra Shines in Villazon’s Somnolent SONNAMBULA by Bellini
Sometimes great singing can save a bad production.
Opera Theater Reviews
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Review: OPERA À LA CARTE'S ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Del Mar
What did our critic think of OPERA À LA CARTE'S PRODUCTION OF OFFENBACH'S ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD at St.
Review: ZORRO at Arizona Opera
Héctor Armienta’s operatic reimagining of ZORRO is a richly textured work that fuses bravado and romance into a timely meditation on liberty.
Review: CINDERELLA, London Coliseum
It’s over 40 years since English National Opera staged Rossini's Cinderella (La Cenerentola) and they open their 2025-26 season with a vibrant new production of the sparkling comedy.
Review: Met Season’s First DON GIOVANNI Shows Off a Great Score for the Audience to Relish
Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI was one of my first operas and remains among my favorites, despite its misogyny and the difficulty in putting together the kind of cast that can do justice to the string of show-stoppers in the score.
Review: Nothing Rusticana about the Met’s Premiere KAVALIER from Bates and Sheer
Anyone familiar with Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prizer-winning THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY must be a bit bewildered at how a 700-page novel could be turned into a 3-hour opera.
Preview: KAVALIER & CLAY Brings Three Sound Worlds to Met Season-Opener
The forces behind the Met’s latest try at bringing a different (sic: younger) audience to the house, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, joined forces at the Guggenheim’s Works & Process series last week to introduce the new work to a receptive crowd.
Review: TOSCA, Starring Anna Netrebko, Royal Ballet and Opera
If you come to opera via film musicals and, later, stage shows, Tosca is amongst the most accessible.
Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
A thought-provoking reworking of Mozart's popular opera.
Review: BBC PROMS: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO FROM GLYNDEBOURNE, Royal Albert Hall
Mozart's beloved comedy The Marriage of Figaro opened Glyndebourne's very first Festival in 1934 and is the renowned opera house's most performed work.
Review: SEMELE, Starring Hilary Cronin, Opera Holland Park
In the 35 years I've been going to Opera Holland Park, I've never been disappointed by the music, performances and sheer joy of being in the open air with accompanying local sound effects.
Review: CARMEN at Wolf Trap
The ever popular and hardy perennial of the operatic canon, composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen, was given a unique yet solid interpretation by the Wolf Trap Opera under the direction of John de los Santos.
Review: SALOME at Union Avenue Opera
Kelly Slawson brings a dazzlingly powerful, beautiful voice to the title role.
Review: Lincoln Center’s Festival Orchestra Concert Covered the Globe, from Paris to Patagonia
Maestro Karen Kamensek opened the Lincoln Center Festival Orchestra’s concert at Geffen Hall—“Paris to Patagonia”—with some interesting introductory remarks that almost sounded like an audition for the Philharmonic’s storied Young People’s Concerts.
Review: BEETHOVEN: I SHALL HEAR IN HEAVEN, Opera Holland Park
This is a great opportunity to hear the breadth of Beethoven’s work performed in a novel way, and the drama does have its flashes of brilliance.
Review: DALIBOR is Smashing Smetana at Bard’s SummerScape under Botstein
Though Bedrich Smetana’s DALIBOR—seen this week at Bard SummmerStage in a wonderful production by Jean-Romain Vesperini, with an ingenious set design by Bruno de Lavenere, a fine cast and the American Symphony Orchestra in impeccable form under Leon Botstein—was reputedly the composer’s favo
Review: Lincoln Center’s Festival Orchestra Concert Is Mostly Mozart under Maestro Glover
“Timeless Transformations” is a key theme of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center’s season at Geffen Hall this year (itself transformed from Avery Fisher Hall and, earlier, Philharmonic Hall).
Review: 'JOSEPHINE' & 'PAGLIACCI' at Union Avenue Opera
A powerful double-bill.
Review: Out Damned Spot—But Hello to Teatro Nuovo’s Unusual MACBETH!
I must admit that I was a little disappointed when I read that this season’s offerings from Will Crutchfield’s Teatro Nuovo featured a couple of familiar titles: Verdi’s MACBETH and Bellini’s LA SONNAMBULA, particularly the former, which one doesn’t think of in the domain of bel canto, the
Review: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Opera Holland Park
Jennifer France gives everything in a role demanding bel canto singing and bloody revenge
Review: LA TRAVIATA, Opera Holland Park
Now on its third revival, Rodula Gaitanou's heart-stopping version of Verdi's tragic La Traviata is as affecting as ever.
Review: FALSTAFF, Glyndebourne Festival
Adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, director Richard Jones’s glorious Falstaff makes a welcome return to Glyndebourne, losing none of its charm or deft comedy.
Review: SEMELE, Royal Ballet And Opera
Forget Arcadian landscapes and Corinthian columns.
Review: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Glyndebourne Festival
You could be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t much more to be said about Le nozze di Figaro, the most performed opera in Glyndebourne’s history.
Review: TRIAL BY JURY/A MATTER OF MISCONDUCT!, Opera Holland Park
A thoughtfully selected double bill making up the operetta segment of Opera Holland Park’s summer season shows the genre at its technical best, but also illuminates its troubling shortcomings.
