Opera Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 43

BWW Reviews: Opera Australia's Presents Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY With Pared Back Simplicity
by Jade Kops - January 27, 2015

Moffatt Oxenbould's (Director) staging of MADAMA BUTTERFLY is revived by Matthew Barclay (Revival Director) to share this doomed love story with new audiences. Whilst other operas presented by Opera Australia in their 2015 season have been re-imaginings, changing locations and eras, MADAMA BUTTERFL...

BWW Reviews: WIDOW is Not Very Merry with Fleming in Charge at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - January 28, 2015

Once upon a time, the Met used to be able to pull off an operetta, like the Rudolf Bing-era FLEDERMAUS, with its Garson Kanin libretto and lyrics by Broadway's Howard Dietz. But for the second year in a row--after last season's dire FLEDERMAUS from writer Douglas Carter Beane and director Jeremy Sam...

BWW Reviews: PENNY Finds Voice at Washington National Opera Premiere
by Jeffrey Walker - January 27, 2015

The idea of finding your voice is a two way street in the world premiere one-hour opera PENNY. Composer Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg have created a succinct, lyrical piece in which their title character discovers her talent for music and is able to communicate and take charge of her life...

BWW Reviews: HOFFMANN is a Messy, but Enjoyable, Tale at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - January 26, 2015

Is there another staple of major opera houses that's as big a mess as LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN by Jacques Offenbach? If there is, I can't think of it--but it doesn't keep it from being wildly enjoyable in the right hands. The Met's current production is entertaining, in spite of itself....

BWW Reviews: Thrilling Violetta from Sonya Yoncheva Finds the Truth in Met LA TRAVIATA
by Richard Sasanow - January 19, 2015

For the second time in two seasons, casting has made me reconsider a Met production that I'd written off as past its expiration date. The first was Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena in Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA. This time around it's the wonderful Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who breathed new lif...

BWW Reviews: The Mariinsky's THE ENCHANTED WANDERER at BAM
by Stephen Raskauskas - January 20, 2015

Thirteen years after its concert premiere with the New York Philharmonic, New Yorkers finally saw a fully staged production of Rodion Shchedrin's opera THE ENCHANTED WANDERER. The Mariisnky Theatre began its two-week residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with a one-night only performance of thi...

BWW Reviews: DiDonato Provides Goosebumps in MARIA STUARDA at Barcelona's Liceu
by Richard Sasanow - January 16, 2015

Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA is a chamber piece blown up to grand opera proportions. That was the takeaway from the new production--that centers on a fictional battle royal between Elizabeth I (Elisabetta) and her cousin Mary (Maria) Stuart, better known as Mary, Queen of Scots--at Barcelona's historic...

BWW Reviews: Opera Australia Proves Puccini's Tale Of Love and Death Is Timeless With Their Restaging of TOSCA
by Jade Kops - January 14, 2015

Opera Australia brings Puccini's classic TOSCA to life with John Bell's (Director) resetting which takes the story from the Neapolitan occupied Rome of 1800 during the French Revolutionary wars to Nazi occupied Rome 1943 during World War II....

BWW Reviews: TOXIC PSALMS New York Premiere
by Stephen Raskauskas - January 13, 2015

One moment, the performers march militantly across the stage and screech like sirens, the next, they sing Pergolesi's galant Stabat Mater like sweet seraphim. The thirty-one performers of TOXIC PSALMS, the latest production created by conductor Karmina Šilec and her ensemble CARMINA SLOVENICA, have ...

BWW Reviews: THE SCARLET IBIS World Premiere in New York
by Stephen Raskauskas - January 12, 2015

THE SCARLET IBIS is one of three new operas to have its world premiere as a part of this year's PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL, New York's incubator for cutting edge, interdisciplinary performance. With any new work, I never fail to ask myself: Did it have an emotional impact? Was it good enough that I would se...

BWW Reviews: Opera Australia's LA BOHÈME Is a Moving and Powerful Interpretation Of This Timeless Story
by Jade Kops - January 04, 2015

Opera Australia presents a powerful, emotion charged re-imagining of Puccini's LA BOHÈME which proves once again that this love story remains relevant, regardless of which century it is set....

BWW Reviews: Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE Gets A Modern Makeover For Children
by Jade Kops - January 03, 2015

Opera Australia brings back Julie Taymor's modern interpretation of THE MAGIC FLUTE, for the 2015 Summer Season. Translated to English by J D McClatchy, this version, originally created for the Metropolitan Opera of New York in 2005 gives the 18th Century story of the education of mankind a modern ...

BWW Reviews: Top New York Opera Performances in 2014 -- Ah, Yes, I Remember Them Well
by Richard Sasanow - January 02, 2015

For New York opera-goers, what was the event of the year? Undoubtedly, John Adams's THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER, not only for the kerfuffle caused by the [unfounded] claims of anti-Semitism but for the opera's exciting debut at the Met. (The Met's contentious labor negotiations nearly edged it out, tho...

BWW Reviews: THE LITTLE PRINCE Lands at Kennedy Center
by Itai Yasur - December 22, 2014

It seems only fitting that in its efforts to introduce a musical form as grown-up as the opera to younger audiences, that the Kennedy Center has picked for this holiday season the children's classic THE LITTLE PRINCE, a story all about grown-ups trying to understand children trying to understand gro...

BWW Reviews: Hallelujah. The Collegiate Chorale Brings MESSIAH (Not) to Carnegie Hall
by Richard Sasanow - December 20, 2014

A funny thing happened on the way to Handel's MESSIAH: That would be Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN, transformed from the film by Eric Idle (the jokes) and John Du Prez (the music) into NOT THE MESSIAH (HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY). This comic oratorio resulted in a very jolly evening, which The Collegiat...

BWW Reviews: No Gods but Plenty of Masters in DIE MEISTERSINGER at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - December 12, 2014

I never ran a marathon, but I sure sat through one the other night at the Met. Richard Wagner's DIE MEISTERSINGER clocked in at six hours--a quarter of a day--without a god or flying horse in sight. And while the composer referred to this as a comedy, it's not exactly “I Love Lucy” (nor, for that ma...

BWW Reviews: Heigh Ho, Silver. GUGLIELMO TELL Rides into Carnegie Hall from Turin with Soprano Meade under Noseda
by Richard Sasanow - December 10, 2014

As 'king of the overture,' Rossini certainly knew how to put an audience in a good mood and his GUGLIELMO TELL--better known as WILLIAM TELL--is no exception. With an elaborate introduction that most Americans over a certain age know from “The Lone Ranger” serials and other themes used in decades of...

BWW Reviews: Soprano Sonya Yoncheva Brings Voluptuous Sound to Debut in Stellar Ensemble of Met BOHEME
by Richard Sasanow - December 05, 2014

Puccini's LA BOHEME has that magical ability to change its shape depending on the cast. When Pavarotti sang, it became his opera, with a Mimi hard pressed to take the spotlight, even in her death scene. When Stratas, Carreras and Scotto (as Musetta) led the cast, it became a glittery ensemble of sho...

BWW Reviews: Jovial BARBIERE with Isabel Leonard Cuts the Mustard at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - December 02, 2014

Bartlett Sher's production of Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA is one of the best of the Gelb years at the Met, with its sliding-doors set by Michael Yeargan and luscious costumes by Catherine Zuber. It was great when it opened with an all-star cast--headed Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Florez and Peter...

BWW Reviews: LAMENTO D'ARIANNA Revisits The Remaining Fragment Of Monteverdi's Lost Opera
by Barry Lenny - December 01, 2014

Such was the enjoyment of the evening, that a number of people commented that it was such a shame that there was only the one chance to attend....

BWW Reviews: Finding Oneself in FIDELIO
by Finny (Amanda Finn) - November 24, 2014

As one can imagine, an opera created by Ludwig van Beethoven is likely driven by intricate musicality. That assumption would be completely accurate as the plot is fairly simple and the characters are of common theatrical stock. Though these observations are true, Madison Opera's recent production of...

BWW Reviews: LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK is 'Opera Noir' and Utterly Wonderful at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - November 18, 2014

Compared to Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Katerina Ismailova in LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK at the Met, Barbara Stanwyck and Lana Turner were couple of pikers in their film noir triumphs, “Double Indemnity” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” Westbroek kills her father-in-law with rat poison, ...

BWW Reviews: Arizona Opera's RIGOLETTO Is Grand and Gripping
by Herbert Paine - November 18, 2014

Arizona Opera's production of Rigoletto, directed by Fenlon Lamb, is a noble and well-constructed effort in portraying the ironic misjudgments of its main characters. It is gifted with notable performances by Peter Volpe as Sparafucile, the assassin; Joseph Barron as Count Monterone; Beth Lytwynec a...

BWW Reviews: Austin Opera's A MASKED BALL Takes a Backseat to Previous Productions
by Michelle Hache - November 17, 2014

I have always loved opera companies that have the ability to evolve and recreate productions for modern audiences. Typically, Austin Opera always rises to meet this challenge, but regrettably, in this production they miss the mark. Despite some standout performances, A MASKED BALL falls short becaus...

BWW Reviews: Winter Opera St. Louis Opens a Brilliant 'Le Nozze di Figaro'
by Steve Callahan - November 12, 2014

Winter Opera kicks off its eighth season with a simply heavenly production of 'Le Nozze di Figaro'. It's the perfect thing for one's first introduction to opera, or for turning a tentative love of opera into a deep and true commitment....