Review: Exciting Bullock and Finley Take on Met Debut of Adams’s ANTONY & CLEOPATRA
There’s an old expression, “A lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client.
Opera Theater Reviews
The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Opera.
Our Opera Critics
View All ›
Review: TOSCA at McCaw Hall
Ending the season with a memorable production of one of opera’s most tour de force masterpieces is sure to motivate audiences to return for Seattle Opera’s next season
Review: World Premiere of Moravec-Campbell ALL SHALL RISE At OSNY under Tritle at Carnegie Hall
By definition, the historical view of the oratorio is that it’s typically religious in nature, performed unstaged and without costumes or scenery.
Review: AMERICAN RHAPSODY at Kennedy Center
An evening of the myriad modes of music that constitute the American Experience was celebrated at the Kennedy Center’s production of American Rhapsody.
Review: PEER GYNT at St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
A rich and lively production of an Ibsen classic--with Grieg's full instrumental music.
Review: THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS at Kennedy Center
It’s not so strange, really, that there’s a serious opera about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Review: PIMPINONE, Royal Ballet and Opera
Super show that lightens a very dark subject (corecive control), but does not diminish it
Review: SALOME Times Seven Doesn’t Add Up to Extra Enjoyment in New Met Production
Even without an over-the-top production—and the Met has had a couple of those—Richard Strauss’s SALOME has been outraging audiences for more than 120 years.
Review: Atlanta’s SIEGFRIED Showcases Spectacular Cast in Zvulun Production
When we last saw Brunnhilde in Atlanta, in the second segment of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, DIE WALKURE, she’d been punished by the gods for saving Sieglinde, but rescued by her father, Wotan.
Review: Edmonton Opera Presents AQUARIUS: SONGS OF THE STARS
For many Edmontonians, the Telus World of Science evokes fond childhood memories.
Review: Berliner Ensemble's Gone-in-a-Flash THREEPENNY OPERA Spends Long Weekend at BAM
Macheath’s back in town! Or at least he was for a few short days, when the Berliner Ensemble brought its now-famous Barrie Kosky production of THREEPENNY OPERA to BAM, in association with St.
Review: I Want a Divorce from the Met’s NOZZE DI FIGARO!
What’s a Mozart lover to do? Great music and a more-than-decent cast don’t necessarily add up to an enchanting night at the opera.
Review: San Diego Opera Presents Strauss's SALOME at the San Diego Civic Theater
What did our critic think of SAN DIEGO OPERA PRESENTS STRAUSS'S SALOME at San Diego Civic Theater? Richard Strauss’s eerie and perverse Salome is based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name, as adapted by librettist Hedwig Lachmann.
Review: TURANDOT, Royal Ballet And Opera
With plenty of colour, masks, and a mystical ambience, Andrei Șerban’s 1984 production of Turandot feels just as fresh as ever.
Let's Hear It for the Five Winners of the Met's 2025 Laffont Competition!
Imagine being a rising young opera singer and getting to sing two solos from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.
Review: LA BOHEME at Lyric Opera Of Chicago
What did our critic think of LA BOHEME at Lyric Opera Of Chicago? Giacomo Puccini’s heartbreaking La Boheme is playing for 10 performances at the Lyric.
Review: Davidsen Goes Out with a Bang in Beethoven’s FIDELIO Under Malkki
Political prisoner is rescued from dungeon by his faithful wife, only to find that she’s pregnant! Shocking! Not really: Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, who’s shown herself indispensable in roles from Tchaikovsky’s QUEEN OF SPADES to Strauss’s ARIADNE AUF NAXOS starts her maternity leave a
Review: INNOCENCE – ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2025 at Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
This will be talked about for a long time to come.
Review: Heggie-Scheer MOBY-DICK Triumphs in New Foglia Production at the Met
MOBY-DICK--Herman Melville’s epic tale of obsession and man-versus-nature, succinctly adapted by composer Jake Heggie with Gene Scheer’s taut libretto--roared into the Met Monday night and begged only one question: What took so long for it to get here?
Review: DIE ZAUBERFLOTE at Winter Opera
Winter Opera rounds out its 18th season with a splendid production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).
Review: IL TROVATORE, Royal Ballet And Opera
An animated revival of Adele Thomas’s 2023 production, Il Trovatore strays from realism and instead focuses on a symbolic reading of this dark and gritty opera.
Review: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, London Coliseum
And so to the final new production of English National Opera’s season; Mary, Queen of Scots, directed by Stewart Laing and conducted by Joana Carneiro.
Review: Julia Bullock’s PERSISTENT VOICE Is Stunning Combination of Past and Present
While opera-lovers wait eagerly for soprano Julia Bullock’s appearance in the latest John Adams lyric drama, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA at the Met in May, Bullock continues to tantalize us with some other parts of her repertoire, from the Baroque (her recent program with the Orchestra of the Age of Enli
Review: THE SNOWY DAY at Minnesota Opera
What did our critic think of THE SNOWY DAY at MN Opera?
REVIEW: Heartbeat’s SALOME Raised the Audience’s Blood Pressure--and the Roof--at Irondale
The people at Heartbeat Opera--that dazzling reinvention-machine for taking works that you think you might have heard one time too often and making them compelling--must have had a crystal ball when they programmed Strauss’s SALOME long before the current, decadent regime took control in US politi
