by Ron Bierman - May 22, 2024
The first act of Opera À La Carte’s production of La bohème featured costuming and well-used furniture that made Rodolfo’s bohemian Parisian garret seem more real than the elaborate expensive sets and costumes of many other productions. After all, Rodolfo (tenor Adam Caughey) and his three friends a...
by Andrew Child - May 22, 2024
A sharp blade wielded threateningly, forced perspective creating looming palatial walls, the rotting heads of failed suitors, and a princess literally shrouded in mystery quickly orient us within Puccini’s iconic fairytale....
by Richard Sasanow - May 18, 2024
Considering all the productions in the Met’s repertoire that have been conceived (or, perhaps more justly, concocted) by directors from other media who don’t seem to understand or like opera, Mark Morris is a gem. So is his concept for Gluck’s ORFEO ED EURIDICE, the myth of a man who is permitted to...
by Richard Sasanow - May 15, 2024
“Why did I enlist? Why did I go to war?” are but two of the questions that Private Danny Chen asks himself in the powerful docu-opera, AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, by Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. It was directed thoughtfully and surely by Chay Yew in its New York debut Sunday afternoon at the new Perelm...
by Gary Naylor - May 14, 2024
Irish National Opera bring a touring production to London in what might prove to be a show for the purists...
by David Friscic - May 14, 2024
Incredibly rich in detail --from staging to technical aspects-- and emboldened with Puccini’s soaring music and meticulous, intelligent direction by Francesca Zambello, Washington National Opera’s production of Turandot is a production for the ages. The entire creative team, the cast, the Washington...
by Richard Sasanow - May 13, 2024
When I first heard Kevin Puts’s gorgeous, melodic score for THE HOURS back in 2022, I was blown away, thinking it was almost too good to be true. Could it be a classic? I wanted to hear it again, though not too soon, to give it a chance to settle in its own skin. Lucky us—lucky me—that the Met broug...
by Erica Miner - May 13, 2024
an enchanted evening that will be remembered for many decades as an occasion that was memorable in every way...
by Erica Miner - May 05, 2024
Without a doubt the highlight of, and a perfect ending to, the company’s season...
by Joe Sarafolean - May 05, 2024
What did our critic think of LA BOHÈME at MN Opera?...
by Ron Bierman - May 03, 2024
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is one of the most popular operas ever written. It has a wonderfully lyrical score, familiar arias and a story that remains compelling even after often heard. San Diego Opera’s most recent production played to a full house on opening night, and under the direction of Jose ...
by Richard Sasanow - April 28, 2024
Those of us who keep an eye on the comings and goings of singers at major opera houses around the world, have known that Friday’s debutant, Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, was going to be one to watch. And it was. No worries about whether her voice would translate from Europe’s smaller houses to...
by Richard Sasanow - April 24, 2024
Back in December, I saw the chamber version of John Adams’s EL NINO—dubbed EL NINO: NATIVITY RECONSIDERED—at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Pared down to its essence, it was wonderful, starred two of the singers who made their debuts in the premiere at the Met, soprano Julia Bullock and bass-...
by Perry Tannenbaum - April 22, 2024
Yes, a grand opera was inserted at Belk Theater as the clock or calendar was winding down! Around the world, Callas, Nilsson, and Sutherland are among the divas who have graced the powerhouse role of TURANDOT, and Franco Zeffirelli's production at the Met is as revered for its stateliness and splend...
by Alexander Cohen - April 22, 2024
Nadine Sierra’s enthralling central performance helms this nerve-jangling revival....
by Richard Sasanow - April 20, 2024
It’s easy to understand why Neal Goren, founder and artistic director of Catapult Opera, was immediately taken with LA VILLE MORTE. (His program notes say, “Upon receiving the piano-vocal score, I found myself sighing in ecstasy…”) First, the name Nadia Boulanger is magic in 20th century music—in mu...
by Richard Sasanow - April 20, 2024
I wouldn’t say that Andrew Ousley’s TIERGARTEN cabaret draws parallels between Weimar Germany—from World War I, leading up to the Nazification of the country and finally World War II—and the current political climate in the US. But you could. After all, who doesn’t love a little escapist fiddling wh...
by Jaime Uranovsky - April 14, 2024
While there are three mini-operas within the SHORTS programme, this reviews centres around two of them: LA VOIX HUMANE and THE IMPRESARIO. Over the last couple of years, I have been lucky enough to attend various operas staged in Cape Town. They are magnificent: grand and opulent....
by Richard Sasanow - April 11, 2024
It was tough separating the opera from the event when FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES opened the first post-Covid pandemic season at the Met. Back then, in September 2021, FIRE made history as the first opera by a Black composer, Terence Blanchard with his librettist Kasi Lemmons (based on the book by Char...
by Richard Sasanow - April 07, 2024
If you cross the traditional EUGENE ONEGIN by Tchaikovsky (great even when overfilled with drama and, yes, music music music, with Konstantin Shilovsky’s co-libretto) with a touch of Ken Russell’s 1971 “The Music Lovers” (the overwrought bio-pic of Tchaikovsky with Richard Chamberlin and Glenda Jack...
by Gary Naylor - April 06, 2024
An old favourite brings the passion and the pain with beautiful singing and convincing acting...
by Richard Sasanow - March 30, 2024
The first night of the Met’s revival of Puccini’s LA RONDINE (THE SWALLOW) was filled with surprises of one sort or another, under the baton of that smart conductor, Speranza Scappucci. She knows her way around Puccini and deserves to be heard more frequently at the house. The production had glamour...
by Gary Naylor - March 22, 2024
English National Opera closes its troubled, but successful, 2023-24 season with Bartok's curious compelling slice of psychodrama beautifully played by its orchestra...
by Richard Sasanow - March 21, 2024
No matter how many “star” performances the Met manages to muster in the course of a season, there’s nothing quite as exciting as the Laffont Grand Finals Concert—formerly known as the Met’s National Auditions Finals—which took place this past Sunday afternoon for its 70th season, when we got to hear...
by Franco Milazzo - March 18, 2024
In the week when an Arts Council England report lambasted the current state of opera and questioned its relevance to wider society, Charles Court Opera’s The Barber Of Seville stands as a stern rebuff to those who consider this art form to be dated and irrelevant....
Videos
Recommended For You
Get Opera's #1 Newsletter
Get the best news & discounts for Opera & beyond.