Opera Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 41

BWW Reviews: Israeli Opera Festival Takes the Leap with TOSCA, Staged at the Foot of the Historic Masada Fortress
by Richard Sasanow - June 25, 2015

At Masada—the mountain fortress in Israel's Judean Desert--a group of besieged Jewish rebels killed themselves rather than be taken alive by the Romans almost 2000 years ago. In Puccini's TOSCA, the eponymous heroine jumps from Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo rather than being taken prisoner for killing t...

BWW Reviews: In the Battle of the BARBIEREs, On Site Opera Picks a Winner
by Richard Sasanow - June 19, 2015

Pity the poor also-rans in operatic history: Leoncavallo's LA BOHEME and even Rossini's OTELLO are perhaps the most famous titles. Oh, yes: We mustn't forget Giovanni Paisiello's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA—not after hearing On Site Opera's production in New York last week, we can't. Downstairs, upstair...

BWW Reviews: EMMELINE Will Wring Your Heart at Opera Theatre of St. Louis
by Steve Callahan - June 17, 2015

This review was first published by KDHX 88-1 St. Louis. Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened a very fine production of 'Emmeline,' by Tobias Picker, with libretto by J. D. McClatchy. This remarkable piece premiered at the Santa Fe Opera in 1996 to great praise. It was done at the New York City...

BWW Reviews: Skylark Opera Offers Two Different but Equally Satisfying Music-Theater Shows in their Annual Summer Festival
by Jill Schafer - June 16, 2015

One of the theatrical highlights of the summer, Skylark Opera's Annual Summer Festival, is upon us! As usual, the two shows playing in repertoire include one that's more of a traditional opera (but always in English) and one that skews a bit more towards musical theater: Puccini's LA RONDINE and the...

BWW Reviews: NYGASP's THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Delightfully Invades Wolf Trap
by Ellen Burns - June 15, 2015

The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan's classic romp of an opera is pleasure enough; but the lovely open air setting of Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center on a pleasant summer's eve makes the frolics of tender-hearted pirates, not-so-naive maidens and a constabulary force who seem to have misp...

BWW Reviews: Opera Lafayette Proves That It Takes a VILLAGE(OISE) to Charm New York
by Richard Sasanow - June 11, 2015

It didn't have a ten-ton set, a fake diva flying from a parapet, or a star-studded cast, but Opera Lafayette's L'EPREUVE VILLAGEOISE (THE VILLAGE TRIAL) had one thing noticeably absent from the opera stage in New York this season: charm aplenty, charm galore....

BWW Reviews: Opera Theatre of St. Louis' RICHARD THE LIONHEART Astonishes with its Beauty
by Steve Callahan - June 11, 2015

This review was first published by KDHX, St. Louis. Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened Handel's 'Richard the Lionheart,' and it is truly astonishing! It is, in all aspects, the most perfect production of an opera that I've ever seen. And voices? Ah, the voices are quite stunning! This is ...

BWW Reviews: RINALDO - The Opera That a True Nerd Can Handel
by Amanda Finn - June 08, 2015

A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away…a man named George Fredric Handel crafted an opera entitled Rinaldo. A few hundred years later, an opera company that prides itself in bringing a fresh perspective to the art form added their own charms to the libretto. Under the guise of the Star Wars...

BWW Reviews: Puccini's LA RONDINE is a Winner at Opera Theatre of St. Louis
by Steve Callahan - June 03, 2015

A rare Puccini receives a lovely production: 'La rondine' at Opera Theatre of St. Louis...

BWW Reviews: Opera Theatre of St. Louis' Unique and Amusing Take on THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
by Chris Gibson - May 28, 2015

I think I bring this up every time I write about an opera, but it's just so funny to me that most of my early exposure to the medium came through films that I saw on TV when I was kid. Whether it was an Our Gang short (the one where Alfalfa wants to give up crooning to become an opera singer), a Bug...

BWW Review: M'DEA UNDONE, Not Your Typical Opera
by Jason Carlos - May 27, 2015

Adapted from a scene of Euripides' Medea, the Tapestry Opera's latest production of M'DEA UNDONE brings the myth and tragedy of this classic story to modern times. The opera takes place in the twenty-first century as Jason, a former army captain, begins a new political career and begins to distance ...

BWW Reviews: Theatre Baton Rouge's MASTER CLASS Teaches Audiences a Thing or Two About Maria Callas
by Tara Bennett - May 22, 2015

Whether audience members know, or let alone have heard, about opera singer Maria Callas, Master Class offers much to contemplate about the dedication towards one's art....

BWW Reviews: MAID TO MARRY Presents Chic, Romantic Opera at Third Avenue Playhouse
by Peggy Sue Dunigan - May 21, 2015

Be shaken as well as stirred by this inventive trio at Sturgeon Bay's Third Avenue Playhouse. Robert Boles, James Valcq and Ryan Patrick Shaw conjure contemporary mayhem from an 18th century Italian opera in Stage Door Theatre Company's enchanting Maid To Marry. This evening's play on words captures...

BWW Reviews: THE SKYLIGHT RING Reinvents Wagner's Mythic Opera with Intimate Style
by Peggy Sue Dunigan - May 21, 2015

Forget what might be known or understood regarding Richard Wagner's epic The Ring Cycle- a legendary series of four complete operas he composed over 26 years ( 1848-1874) that requires more than 18 hours to perform. Instead enjoy The Skylight Ring, Skylight Music Theatre's cheeky, slightly irreveren...

BWW Reviews: BALLO with Radvanovsky, Beczala and Markov Ends Met Season with a Bang
by Richard Sasanow - May 20, 2015

The Met was running on all cylinders for the last performance of the season, with Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA in an energized version of the production that premiered in 2012. The trio of principals--soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Amelia, tenor Piotr Beczala as Gustavo and baritone Alexey Markov as ...

BWW Reviews: CANZONE DE MIO PADRE (SONGS MY FATHER TAUGHT ME) Was A Collection Of Italian Tenor Favourites
by Barry Lenny - May 18, 2015

Anybody who enjoys full throated singing, and a swirling orchestral backing, would have been as a delighted as I was....

BWW Reviews: Urban Opera Sings About Disintegrating Housing Estate
by Chris McCormack - May 15, 2015

An urban opera about the social impact of the regeneration of St. Teresa's Gardens, a social housing estate in Dublin....

BWW Reviews: CAV/PAG, Those Verismo Twins, Still Tied at the Hip at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - May 15, 2015

It was 'out with the old, in with the new' for another of the Franco Zeffirelli productions that were once the Metropolitan Opera's bread and butter, designed for audiences to cheer for the scenery even when the cast might not have been top drawer. This time, the victims of changing times (and admin...

BWW Reviews: CINDERELLA Steals Hearts in Lyrical Production at Washington National Opera
by Jeffrey Walker - May 11, 2015

CINDERELLA wins more than bracelets in Washington National Opera's closing opera of the season. Featuring the auspicious debut of American mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard (2013 Richard Tucker Winner), Rossini's comic and lyrical romantic opera weaves an easy spell. CINDERELLA – “La Cenerentola” – is co...

BWW Reviews: G&S FEST: PRINCESS IDA Completes A Trio Of Savoy Operettas
by Barry Lenny - May 06, 2015

The third and final production in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society's Festival at the Arts Theatre is G&S Fest: Princess Ida....

BWW Reviews: DIE WALKURE at Houston Grand Opera, Wunderbar
by Bryan-Keyth Wilson - May 01, 2015

Incest, power trips and a rebel with a cause are a few of the things we see in Houston Grand Opera's production DIE WALKÜRE. I like to think of the opera world as an elaborate wine list. Delectable notes from a fine Merlot, Riesling or Chablis, and Houston Grand Opera's current season is packed full...

BWW Reviews: THE IMPRESARIO Delights St. Louis at Gateway Opera
by Steve Callahan - April 29, 2015

Gateway Opera's production of Mozart's The Impresario is one of the most delightful evenings of opera that I've ever experienced....

BWW Reviews: THREEPENNY OPERA at Villanova Goes Back to Brecht
by Marakay Rogers - April 23, 2015

Valerie Joyce and a fine cast go back to the roots of Brecht's THREEPENNY OPERA and uncover a feminist treasure trove...

BWW Review: San Diego Opera Again Proves Itself Worthy of 'Must-See' Status
by Erica Miner - April 21, 2015

A display of operatic and symphonic talent rarely seen and heard on one stage...

BWW Reviews: What A Day for an Auto-da-fe and DON CARLO at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - April 10, 2015

What a great idea it was for the Met to mount revivals of Verdi's ERNANI and DON CARLO at the same time! It offers an opportunity to compare two operas that have much in common--and a production well worth seeing....