Though this production's point is unclear, it certainly makes a statement in rhinestone and brocade.
Karen WeinsteinCA,
“Thaïs.” Does the name ring a bell? If you are not an opera aficionado, the likely answer is no, unless you happen to recall the haunting "Méditation from Thaïs." If so, you are on the right track. This late 19th-century ...
A new production unleashes the titular lothario, focusing on sex, lies and plot escape hatches.
Lewis WhittingtonPA,
Opera Philadelphia director Nicholas Muni took a gamble last year at the Academy of Vocal Arts, setting Mozart’s "Cosi fan tutte" in the 1960s with soldiers deploying to Vietnam and interpreting the already couple-swapping libretto to the "make love, not ...
An inventive concept joins two offbeat operas in a coup for Opera Parallèle.
Suzanne WeissCA,
Just when you think it can’t get any better, amazingly it does. In its brief history Opera Parallèle, under the artistic direction of founder/conductor Nicole Paiement, has presented little-known contemporary works by Phillip Glass, Samuel Barber, John Harbison, Leonard Bernstein ...
Lewis WhittingtonPA,
The musicians of the Curtis Symphony Orchestracapped off their current performance season in Verizon Hall April 13, with a concert dedicated to Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, whose visionary philanthropy not only extends to the physical resources at the Curtis Institute, ...
This engaging new production sees Donizetti's heroine from a feminist perspective: a woman driven mad by the shackles of her status.
Karen WeinsteinCA,
For a fully satisfying combination of classical music and contemporary theater, the current LA Opera production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" is not to be missed. I shamelessly like my opera grand with voices to die for, singers who can act, ...
These two vocal dynamos thrilled the audience at the new Weill Hall in a program of art songs and Puccini duets.
Suzanne WeissCA,
Opera fans, fear not. The future is here.
If the recent recital by Leah Crocetto and David Lomelí is any indication, there should be no shortage of Mimis or Rodolfos, Butterflies or Pinkertons, once Domingo and Netrebko, Fleming ...
This operatic version of an American classic gets better the more it's performed.
Karren LaLonde AlenierDC,
The Washington National Opera production of “Moby-Dick” is a crowd pleaser. Jake Heggie’s music is tonal, sometimes glancing off Puccini, but ventures out with touches of Philip Glass minimalism and other occasions of atonality that make it satisfyingly contemporary. Maestro ...
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Jan. 26, 2014
Karren LaLonde AlenierDC,
In the opening program of its 40th anniversary season, the Verge Ensemble, the performance group of the Contemporary Music Forum, presented 90 minutes of distinctive contemporary classical music with commentary. While the program included five short computer-generated pieces by Paul ...
The Lamplighters emphasize the effervescent in a sparkling new translation of this Viennese operetta.
Suzanne WeissCA,
I’ll take mine mit schlag. The Bay Area’s venerable Lamplighters have departed from the usual Gilbert and Sullivan fare to serve up Johann Strauss II’s delectable Viennese concoction, “Die Fledermaus,” in a production that often is as fizzy as ...
The Russian pianist delivered a concert of the highest order, without flashy gimmicks or unnecessary gestures.
Frances WilsonLondon,
In a welcome return to London after several years’ absence, acclaimed Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky opened the 2014 International Piano Series at the Southbank Centre with an impressive and absorbing recital of music by two of the finest ...
