Mary NguyenLondon,
Admittedly, Gilbert and Sullivan’s "The Pirates of Penzance" isn’t one of my favourite G & S operas, yet Mike Leigh’s new production manages to sustain the audience’s attention through brightly crisp staging, dynamic acting, dazzling singing and Gilbert's ...
Agony and Ecstasy: Ohlsson's focus on Scriabin at Wigmore Hall
Frances WilsonLondon,
One hundred years to the day since the death of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson concluded his two-concert “Skryabin Focus” at London’s Wigmore Hall with a recital of works which spanned the final two decades of Scriabin’s ...
The cast looks and sounds as if they are thoroughly enjoying themselves in this winning production.
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
What is not to like about Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro"? Not much. When skillfully executed, the music is Mozart at his liveliest. The story is a convoluted farce with overtones of the conflict between the classes and the eternal battle ...
The production's singing, while generally good, is often overwhelmed by froth and exaggerated charm.
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
"The Barber of Seville" has been seen somewhere every year since its initial production almost 200 years ago. A light spirit and beautiful music that wafts through your mind long after you have left the theater make it easy to ...
The American pianist takes listeners into the strange and exciting world of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin.
Frances WilsonLondon,
Talking to a reviewer colleague during the intermission of Garrick Ohlsson’s all-Scriabin recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, he commented that he just "couldn't get Scriabin." This was after we had heard the "White Mass" Piano Sonata (No. 7 in F-sharp), ...
Despite a listenable score, the simple story line never fully engages in this loose homage to García Márquez.
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
Reader beware. This is not a review for the opera cognoscenti whose weary ears may be seeking newer, less familiar fodder. You know who you are. This is a review for the reader who may be a touch tired of ...
A new production of a timeless classic has a few weak links but enough heart and love to compensate.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
Some things never go out of style: basic black, young love, “La Bohème.” Reputed to be the most often performed opera in the canon, Puccini’s tale of the consumptive seamstress, the impoverished poet and their high-spirited, if equally penniless, friends ...
A simple little opera becomes hugely moving in this laudable production.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
The Curlew River runs fast among the fens, dividing East from West, person from person. So goes the description in Benjamin Britten’s stirring little opera, “Curlew River.” Part medieval mystery play, part Noh drama (the libretto, by William Plomer, was ...
French mezzo Karine Deshayes in the title role leads a wonderful cast in Rossini's bel canto gem.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
Instead of a fairy godmother, we have a wise old tutor and the glass slippers are now a pair of diamond bracelets. Aside from that, everything is as usual — only funnier — in Rossini’s operatic version of the timeless ...
These strangely paired short operas display the best (and worst) of the director's concepts.
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
Why pair Baroque "Dido and Aeneas" with Bartok's 20th century "Bluebeard's Castle"? According to program notes by director Barrie Kosky of the Komische Oper Berlin they have much in common. His most convincing argument is that they are "two operas ...
