Review: AIDA, Royal Ballet and Opera
Robert Carsen's vision is as uncompromising as ever, but the world has changed in three short years
Opera Theater Reviews
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Review: Going for Baroque with ENLIGHTENMENT and BULLOCK
The 17th and 18th centuries rode roughshod over the programming at the 92NY the other night, when that brilliant British baroque ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and superb guest soloist, soprano Julia Bullock, bathed the audience in the warmth of what itself acknowledged was a l
Review: Prototype’s Gorgeous IN A GROVE by Cerrone and Fleischmann Arrives in New York
The New York premiere of the Christopher Cerrone/Stephanie Fleischmann opera IN A GROVE, in Mary Birnbaum’s simply beautiful—or beautifully simple—production triumphed at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club on Saturday as part of the Prototype Festival.
Review: JENŮFA, Royal Ballet And Opera
It’s a mistake to dismiss Claus Guth’s production of Janacek’s Jenůfa as symbolically overwrought and interminably grey.
Review: Prototype’s EAT THE DOCUMENT Brings Back the Activism of the ‘70s
The lobby of the HERE Theatre in SoHo was buzzing after Saturday’s performance of the new opera EAT THE DOCUMENT—not just for the performance we’d just watched but for the memories of the age that the piece evoked for many in the audience.
Review: AIDA and the Temple of Doom Comes to the Met with Angel Blue
Someone at the Met should have been giving out flu shots (before RFK Junior makes them illegal), because something is obviously going around the cast of the new AIDA.
Review: MARIA, in Cinemas and Streaming
Angelina Jolie is compelling in a movie that concentrates on the misery to the exclusion of almost everything else in the diva's life
Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL, Royal Ballet and Opera
Macabre and spectacular, this is Christmas fare as it once was and should still be, fully trusting its audience.
Review: Strauss’s Powerhouse FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN Casts Big Shadow at the Met
Richard Strauss’s DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW), with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, has made a triumphant return to the Met with a stellar cast and the Met Orchestra in peak form under Yannick Nezet-Seguin.
Review: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, London Coliseum
Sarah Tipple brings the comedic opera to life with gloriously ridiculous period costumes, an outstanding cast and an abstract set that mirrors the plot’s absurdism with precision.
Review: MACBETH at Kennedy Center
Malevolence, greed, the thirst for power and the never-ending quest for revenge dominate the Washington National Opera production of composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth.
Review: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE, London Coliseum
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
Review: THE SOUND VOICE PROJECT, Royal Ballet and Opera
Words run out, as The Voice is lost and recovered
Review: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
There are only three more performances, so book quickly.
Review: THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, Royal Ballet and Opera
Damiano Michieletto brings plenty of pizzazz to Offenbach's crowdpleaser, but wastes some of his on-stage talents
Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA PRESENTS LA BOHÈME at San Diego Civic Center
What did our critic think of SAN DIEGO OPERA PRESENTS LA BOHÈME at San Diego Civic Center? San Diego Opera celebrated the opening of its 60th season with Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, the same opera the company staged to open its first season.
Review: Top Singing and Tap Dancing Highlight Richard Tucker Awards Gala
As usual, the gala concert of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation started off with an interloper from the golden age of opera: Richard Tucker himself, singing Mascagni’s “Addio alla Madre” from CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA.
Review: The Marx Brothers Found Life in TROVATORE that the Met Couldn’t Muster
I must admit that the Met’s current revival of IL TROVATORE--with RIGOLETTO and TRAVIATA, considered the great creations of Verdi’s middle period--made me think of another masterwork, “A Night at the Opera,” my favorite of the movies by those champions of silliness, the Marx Brothers.
Review: RIGOLETTO, London Coliseum
There’s no shame in pulling an old favourite from the vaults but Jonathan Miller’s 1982 gangster-themed production is firing blanks in this latest revival.
Review: CARMEN at Polish National Opera
What did our critic think of CARMEN at Polish National Opera?
Review: FIDELIO at Kennedy Center
The Washington National Opera’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio is a triumph of elegant, efficient style and directorial finesse.
Review: GODS & MORTALS: A CELEBRATION OF WAGNER at The Kennedy Center
'Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner' is a beautiful, if limited, array of performances and works highlighting both the composer and Kennedy Center’s own wonderful talent.
Review: ACIS AND GALATEA at Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre
Opera Atelier’s production of G.
Review: FAUST at Four Seasons Centre For The Performing Arts
Vocally and musically, the Canadian Opera Company's production of Gounod's Faust directed by Amy Lane was a sumptuous feast for the ears.
Review: RENÉE FLEMING AND THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Kennedy Center
With the size of theatrical orchestras being drastically cut, one of the few places left to hear a full string section is at a symphonic concert.
