Opera Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 29

BWW Review: Oratorio Society Gives SANCTUARY to the Underground Railroad at Carnegie Hall
by Richard Sasanow - May 10, 2018

The world premiere performance of SANCTUARY ROAD (subtitled “An Oratorio Based on the Writings of William Still, a Conductor for the Underground Railroad”), by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell, performed by the Oratorio Society of New York under Kent Tritle, burst forth from the st...

BWW Review: Sondra Radvanovsky Reigns Supreme in the COC's ANNA BOLENA
by MacKenzie Holland - May 07, 2018

The title role is one of the most challenging soprano roles in the repertoire. Lucky for the Canadian Opera Company, they have one of the world's greatest sopranos leading their cast - Ms. Sondra Radvanovsky....

BWW Review: No Babying the Audience at BAMBINO, the Opera for Toddlers, at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - May 07, 2018

No one in the audience was on Facebook or Twitter during Lliam Paterson's opera BAMBINO at the Met's List Hall--a rare occurrence for the company these days--on Friday May 4. In fact, no one looked at a cell phone at all during the performance. And nobody fell asleep--even though the opera was writt...

BWW Review: 'Orange' is the New FIDELIO from Heartbeat Opera at NY Opera Fest
by Richard Sasanow - May 05, 2018

Despite some great music, nobody ever said that Beethoven's FIDELIO is an easy opera to love. Yet, the reduced, revised and reconfigured 90-minute version that Heartbeat Opera premiered the other night--as part of this year's NY Opera Fest from the New York Opera Alliance--showed some fearless work ...

BWW Review: COC's THE NIGHTINGALE AND OTHER SHORT FABLES is a Magical Night at the Opera
by MacKenzie Holland - May 03, 2018

The word most-associated with Robert Lepage's THE NIGHTINGALE AND OTHER SHORT FABLES is 'magic'. And like 'magic,' you need to see it to believe it. Words simply do not do it justice....

BWW Review: Walking the Tightrope at Met's National Council Auditions Finals Concert
by Richard Sasanow - May 01, 2018

Can you imagine coming out on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera--facing an audience of about 4000 and be ready to sing without really much of a chance to warm up? That takes guts--and it's what the nine finalists in the Met's National Council Auditions Grand Final Concert did on Sunday, April 29. ...

BWW Review: Going Down Under with JOHN HOLIDAY in the Crypt
by Richard Sasanow - April 30, 2018

John Holiday is a countertenor for people who don't usually appreciate countertenors--or think of them as “an acquired taste.” Holiday is definitely not that. He has a gorgeous, expressive voice, that somehow balances sweetness and power, whether he's singing Baroque, gospel, American songbook or ja...

BWW Review: At the Met, LAMMERMOOR is Filled with Crazies--and Not Just LUCIA
by Richard Sasanow - April 30, 2018

Donizetti's LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR--the story of a fragile young woman, Lucia, who's caught in a feud involving her family, the Ashtons, and the Ravenswoods--is one of the mainstays of the repertoire at major opera houses around the world, famed particularly for its mad scene. It's long been a favorite...

BWW Review: A Poet's Love and the CYCLES of Lawrence Brownlee at Carnegie's Zankel Hall
by Richard Sasanow - April 26, 2018

On the surface, the two major works on Lawrence Brownlee's recital at Carnegie's Zankel Hall might seem not to have much in common. The first, Robert Schumann's “Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love),” was written around 1840; “CYCLES OF MY BEING,” by Tyshawn Sorey and Terrance Hayes, a couple of MacArthur g...

BWW Review: Have You Met Ms. BULLOCK? JULIA, That Is, At Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall
by Richard Sasanow - April 23, 2018

When the radiant, intellectual soprano Julia Bullock stepped on stage Carnegie Hall's intimate venue, Weill Recital Hall (just 268 seats), to wild applause, I felt like I was the only one hearing her “live” for the first time. Everyone else there seemed to have a personal relationship with her and h...

BWW Review: TURANDOT at Metropolitan Opera
by Milette Shanon - April 21, 2018

The Met's production of Turandot delivers a visual blast from the moment the curtain rises. The gilded set is probably one of the most brilliant, opulent, and dense sets of any opera. It really is gorgeous. Likewise, the chorus is strong and magnificent. The memorable combination takes this somewhat...

BWW Review: TROUBLE IN TAHITI AND GALLANTRY at Center Stage Theater
by Anna Jensen - April 18, 2018

A rare treat this weekend only, Opera Santa Barbara presents an evening of one-act comic operas in the intimacy of Center Stage Theater. Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti will be performed along with Douglas Moore's broadly comic work, Gallantry. Both showcase the talents of Opera Santa Barbara'...

BWW Review: French Creampuff CENDRILLON Finally Reaches Met with DiDonato
by Richard Sasanow - April 18, 2018

The Met's new CENDRILLON is a Cinderella of a production, finally allowing Massenet's take on the classic tale of the girl from the cinders who finds her Prince Charming to reach the Met's stage 119 years after its premiere at the Opera-Comique in Paris....

BWW Review: City Opera's AMORE DEI TRE RE Gets the Kiss of Death
by Richard Sasanow - April 16, 2018

Italo Montemezzi's L'AMORE DEI TRE RE, which played four performances at City Opera's Rose Theate this weekend, was greeted as a masterpiece when it premiered at La Scala in 1913 proved popular for years at the Met. Today, I'm not sure that even Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann as the lovers could k...

BWW Review: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at Theater Erfurt - This DUTCHMAN finally takes flight on the wings of Kelly God's magnificently sung Senta
by Mark Janicello - April 16, 2018

Theater Erfurt's General Director, Guy Montavon was responsible for nearly turning THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, (Der fliegende Hollander) Richard Wagner's technicolor, romantic dream of an opera into a black, white and grey nightmare. The story of the Dutchman, Wagner's tragic 'pale Sailor' cursed by Satan...

BWW Review: A Tantalizing Taste of Kaufmann's TRISTAN, Nylund's ISOLDE with Boston Symphony under Nelsons at Carnegie
by Richard Sasanow - April 13, 2018

It's hard for opera singers to keep off the radar when they're dipping their feet into a new role--particularly if the role is Tristan in Wagner's great opera, or if your name is Jonas Kaufmann. Yes, the first of the Boston Symphony's string of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Act II concerts was on their home t...

BWW Review: A Capella or Not, Oxford's Cathedral Choir Shows Fine Touch of Conductor Darlington at NY's St. Thomas 5th Ave.
by Richard Sasanow - April 11, 2018

I must admit that Christ Church Cathedral Choir--performing at New York's St. Thomas Church 5th Avenue last week to kick off a final tour with retiring Music Director/conductor John Darlington--knocked my socks off with the first part of its program. The men and boys of the choir--a 500-year-old ins...

BWW Review: CAV/PAG at Deutsche Oper Berlin
by Mark Janicello - April 02, 2018

At the Deutsche Oper Berlin on Saturday night, David Pountney, director of CAV/PAG saddled these beloved works with a concept so profound in its stupidity that it was often mind-blowing and jaw-dropping in its inanity. If there is a special club in Hell exclusively for bad stage directors, Mr. Pount...

BWW Review: PIGMALIONE/PIGMALION at City Opera Not Lover-ly Enough
by Richard Sasanow - March 27, 2018

There's no 'Enry 'Iggins or 'Liza Doolittle in Donizetti's IL PIGMALIONE or Rameau's PIGMALION--we'll have to wait for Lincoln Center Theatre's MY FAIR LADY revival (based on Shaw's PYGMALION) next month for that. But this pair of oddities, produced by New York City Opera last weekend at the Gerald ...

BWW Review: Spectacular RINALDO by Handel at Carnegie with Bicket and the English Concert
by Richard Sasanow - March 26, 2018

Just about the most spectacular opera event of the season so far arrived at Carnegie Hall Sunday afternoon, with the English Concert and Harry Bicket making their annual foray into Handel territory, with a superb RINALDO....

BWW REVIEW: Amanda Muggleton Channels One Of Opera's Greatest Divas As She Reprises Her Portrayal Of Maria Callas In Terrence McNally's MASTERCLASS.
by Jade Kops - March 24, 2018

Sydney audiences were treated to a new immersive expression of Terrence McNally's award winning MASTERCLASS with Amanda Muggleton returning to the role that won her a Helpmann Award in 2002....

BWW Review: LA TRAVIATA with Philharmonia Orchestra Of New York - Innovation for Innovation's Sake
by Cole Grissom - March 23, 2018

As classical music presentations continue to innovate in the 21st century, it's paramount that a keen eye remains focused on the purpose of this innovation. Innovation for innovation's sake will fail every time. And, unfortunately, Philharmonia Orchestra of New York (PONY) fell victim to this pitfal...

BWW Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA'S FLORENCIA EN LA AMAZONAS at San Diego Civic Center
by Ron Bierman - March 23, 2018

The San Diego Opera's production of Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas was premiered Saturday at San Diego's Civic Center. Much has been made of the influence the magical realism of Nobel-Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez had on Marcela Fuentes-Berain's libretto, but most of the magic...

BWW Review: With Cast Headed by O'Hara and Maltman, Guess Who Gets the Last Laugh on Mozart's COSI at the Met?
by Richard Sasanow - March 21, 2018

To answer the most burning question for many: Yes, Broadway's Kelli O'Hara can sing opera, acquitting herself nobly and well in the company of “real” opera singers and filling the huge Met Opera without a mike. (FYI: She did study opera herself in her early days.) She brought theatrical pizzazz and ...

BWW Review: Winter Opera of St. Louis Presents L'ELISIR D'AMORE
by Steve Callahan - March 12, 2018

We went out into the chilly spring evening - and it became, for me, one of the most totally pleasing evenings of opera I've ever experienced. Winter Opera of St. Louis presented Donizetti's 'L'Elisir d'Amore' in a production that was as near perfection as one could ever ask....