Opera Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 19

BWW Review: David T. Little's Chilling Opera SOLDIER SONGS Is Reinvented for Opera Philadelphia Film
by Richard Sasanow - January 24, 2021

When I interviewed David T. Little several years ago, he told me he told me that he “didn't even realize [SOLDIER SONGS] was an opera until [opera entrepreneur] Beth Morrison clued him in.” He probably didn’t realize it was a film either, until Singer-Director Johnathan McCullough brought him the id...

BWW Review: Jamie Barton Stars as the French Chef in BON APPETIT! A SWEET SOIREE
by Maria Nockin - January 09, 2021

On January 8, 2021, Opera Philadelphia presented BON APPETIT! A SWEET SOIREE. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton portrayed Julia Child and Jonathan Easter accompanied her with Lee Hoiby’s sparkling, decorative piano score. Keep the Music Going Directors Ryan and Tonya McKinny provided the superb audio and v...

BWW Review: Happy New Year, Dear Metropolitan, Happy New Year to You
by Richard Sasanow - January 08, 2021

Looks can be deceiving, as the New Year’s Eve edition of the Met’s “Live in Concert” series proved in abundance. But could even the talent of four wonderful singers--sopranos, Angel Blue and Pretty Yende and a matching pair of tenors, Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani-- breathe new life in a pro...

BWW Review: Arizona Opera Presents STUDIO SPOTLIGHT CONCERT
by Maria Nockin - December 21, 2020

On Saturday evening, December 19, 2020,  Arizona Opera premiered its third  Studio Spotlight Series Concert online at no charge. The first part of the program featured tenor Bille Bruley, soprano Kaitlyn Johnson, and bass-baritone Brandon Morales singing opera arias. The second part was a performanc...

BWW Interview: THE ELIXIR OF LOVE at McCaw Hall
by Erica Miner - November 02, 2020

Available to season ticket holders from November 13–December 4, 2020 , Recorded on the McCaw Hall stage...

BWW Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA'S LA BOHEME at Pechanga Arena Parking Lot
by Ron Bierman - October 28, 2020

A connoisseur's bravos replaced by honkin' horns and flashin' headlights? Puccini's La bohème staged in a parking lot? Such is opera performance in an age of COVID-19. A sold-out fleet of 450 cars contained opera-starved San Diegans who showed their appreciation of the performance in ways never imag...

BWW Review: Damrau Goes for Broke, Calleja Plays It Safer in 'Met Stars Live in Concert' from Italy
by Richard Sasanow - October 27, 2020

In the latest installment of the Met Stars in Concert Series, soprano Diana Damrau and tenor Joseph Calleja took center stage in the Royal Palace of Caserta, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Italy, with the grand assistance of pianist Roberto Moresco. The performing space—the palace’s spectacular Pal...

BWW Review: A TRIBUTE TO LEON FLEISHER
by Barbara Trainin Blank - September 29, 2020

The word legendary can be used loosely, but as Brian Ganz demonstrates in a tribute concert to his long-time teacher and world-famous pianist Leon Fleisher, in this case not only is the description deserving but can be applied in many different spheres....

BWW Review: LUCAS AND IRINA MEACHEM RECITAL
by Maria Nockin - September 28, 2020

Baritone Lucas Meachem and his wife, pianist Irina Meachem, sang an aria-filled recital on to open the Merola Opera Program Recital Series September 27, 2020. The Meachems opened the recital with the aria a?oeBella siccome un angeloa?? (a?oeBeautiful as an Angela??) from Donizettia??s Don Pasquale. ...

BWW Review: Like Fine Wine, DiDonato Keeps Getting Better, as her Unusual 'Met Stars Live in Concert' from Germany Shows Aplenty
by Richard Sasanow - September 20, 2020

Mezzo Joyce DiDonato set a new standard for the Met’s Live concert series (hosted by Christine Goerke) with a gorgeous recital from the Jahrhunderthalle in Germany that was broadcast live on September 12 and will be available on demand through the Met’s website, now extended through October 23....

BWW Review: Star Light, Star Bright – Here Comes Norway's LISE DAVIDSEN, One of the MET STARS IN CONCERT
by Richard Sasanow - August 31, 2020

By the time Lise Davidsen appeared in the Met’s December revival of Tchaikovsky’s QUEEN OF SPADES, the company had already scheduled the soprano for five other major roles in seasons to come. One opera they didn’t schedule was TANNHAUSER, with its spectacular aria for Elisabeth--“Dich teure Halle”--...

BWW Review: Today's Biggest Stars plus Pavarotti, Price, Sutherland, Battle and Others Make MET ON DEMAND Indispensable
by Richard Sasanow - August 26, 2020

It's hardly a secret that during the Met's shutdown, the company has been treating audiences with nightly telecasts of everything from the company's current 'Live In HD' series to some scratchy videos that still had decent sound. All of them, however, can also be found on the Met's online subscripti...

BWW Review: RUSSELL THOMAS LIVING ROOM RECITAL
by Maria Nockin - August 13, 2020

On Monday, August 10, 2020, I listened to tenor Russell Thomas and collaborative pianist Kyung-mi Kima??s a?oeLiving Room Recitala?? for Los Angeles Opera. He opened with Franz Schuberta??s a??An die Musik' ('To Musica??) Thomas and Kim gloried in the songa??s sweeping melody as the pianoa??s stron...

BWW Review: Fleming Continues to Surprise in Met Stars Live in Concert at Washington's Dumbarton Oaks, August 1
by Richard Sasanow - August 02, 2020

Even though soprano Renee Fleming had a big farewell to her role as the Marschallin in DER ROSENKAVALIER in the Met’s recent production premiere, she seems far from the end of her career, not only continuing to concertize but even in opera. So, it was no surprise that she showed up on the roster of ...

BWW Review: The Met's Back, with a Live Concert Series Kicked Off by Jonas Kaufmann
by Richard Sasanow - July 19, 2020

When was the last time you heard a concert at the Met for $20? It could have been Saturday afternoon--with Jonas Kaufmann kicking off an online, live concert series, MET STARS LIVE IN CONCERT. It helped to remind us what we're missing without live opera and stars worth going out of the way for....

BWW Review: FAUST, Royal Opera House Online
by Bella Bevan - July 18, 2020

Last night was the online premiere of the Royal Opera House's Faust, broadcast for free as part of the #OurHouseToYourHouse series. This is David McVicar's production, recorded in 2019....

BWW Review: “SONGS OF SUMMER” WITH SHELLY TRAVERSE at McCaw Hall
by Erica Miner - July 15, 2020

Seattle Opera's innovative 'Songs of Summer' recital series has been bringing some of the company's most valued singers to an electronic stage...

BWW Review: RUSALKA at Des Moines Metro Opera and Iowa PBS: A Journey to the Depths of the Sea and Back.
by DC Felton - July 06, 2020

Last week Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) and Iowa Public Broadcasting Service started the 2020 Virtual Opera season with a stunning airing of 'Manon.' The decision to go virtual this season was due to the continuing COVID crisis. They continue their summer season this week with their 2018 production ...

BWW Review: Des Moines' MANON Is a Welcome Journey Taken From Your Own Couch
by DC Felton - June 30, 2020

Opera companies worldwide have found themselves canceling their seasons, including Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO).  The difference with DMMO is that they have had an Emmy winning partnership with Iowa Public Television, now called Iowa Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), coming together to give you th...

BWW Review: Metropolitan Opera's At-Home Gala
by Maria Nockin - April 26, 2020

On April 25, 2020, The Metropolitan Opera presented many of its top ranked artists performing from their homes or where they were staying on that date. Met General Manager Peter Gelb, the master of ceremonies, chatted with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin as they presented each performer. Because...

BWW Review: Met's Round-the-World, At-Home Gala Proves 'Music is Nutrition for Our Souls'
by Richard Sasanow - April 26, 2020

In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis that is gripping the world--and keeping so many people in quarantine--the Metropolitan Opera managed to pull off a brilliantly executed music coup. It connected stars, chorus members and orchestral musicians in an “At-Home Gala”--a combination fund-raiser for the...

BWW Review: Giggles Galore at the Met? You Bet—from PASQUALE and FALSTAFF on Demand
by Richard Sasanow - April 12, 2020

Luckily for viewers on the Metropolitan Opera's “Met on Demand”—with selections available free in this time of COVID-19, on your laptop or as apps for your phone or tablet—there were a couple of knee-slappers thrown in among the drama of AIDA, PARSIFAL and ROMEO ET JULIETTE this week. Two of my favo...

BWW Reviews: A Great Week for Haircuts at the Met, from BARBIERE to NIXON
by Richard Sasanow - April 02, 2020

The Met on Demand had another week of exciting performances, from the divine [Rossini's IL  BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA] to the, well, the divine [Adams's NIXON IN CHINA]....

BWW Review: Paris Opera Gives Us a Look at the Met's New DON GIOVANNI from the Palais Garnier
by Richard Sasanow - March 29, 2020

Thanks to the French online service, France.tv, opera-goers in New York have had a chance to see what lies ahead with the new production of Mozart's DON GIOVANNI by Ivo van Hove, that, health crisis be willing, will make its debut at the Met next March....

BWW Review: Is the Met's TURANDOT Different on PBS' Great Performances Than in the Opera House?
by Richard Sasanow - March 22, 2020

In these crazy days when no theatres are open to the public, the Live in HD series on PBS is a lifeline to the Met; last Friday, on PBS' Great Performances (on WNET in New York, at least) there was this fall's TURANDOT with a first-rate cast....