“Boystown: the Opera,” with one comic diva and a whole lot of intertwining melodies for big-voiced men.
Michael Wade SimpsonSanta Fe,
Laurent Pelly’s take on “Don Pasquale” this summer at Santa Fe Opera is tight, funny and physical. With only five characters and no chorus, this narrowly focused opera allows for each individual voice, and actor, to shine. Beyond that, thanks ...
Michael Wade SimpsonSanta Fe,
“Carmen” and “Don Pasquale” may be alternating onstage at the opera this weekend, but that won’t stop cast members in the two operas from fraternizing. Daniela Mack and Alek Shrader, who are playing, respectively, the title role in “Carmen,” and ...
The Santa Fe Opera goes for political edginess in this re-imagined take on Bizet's tale of love and jealousy and death.
Michael Wade SimpsonNM,
The collision between grand opera and the iPhone is happening now; it’s just in places like Santa Fe that the wreckage is perhaps less noticeable. Does anyone still prefer a live orchestra, over-the-top theatrics, and $200 tickets to their Apps ...
In the great outdoors, the Fab Phils reawaken the senses.
Lewis WhittingtonPhiladelphia,
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s outdoor concert series at the Mann Center (pictured above) kicked off in grand style with British conductor (and droll wit) Bramwell Tovey conducting showpieces by Beethoven and Britten. Tovey, musical director of Vancouver Symphony and in ...
The American premiere of this opera about human trafficking and sexual slavery rises above agitprop and emerges a true work of art.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
Earlier this year a film called “Twelve Years a Slave” walked away with the Best Picture award at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes. The true story of a free American man of color who was kidnapped in Washington ...
English National Opera presents a magical, watery world in this rendition of Bizet's work.
Frances WilsonLondon,
Penny Woolcock’s visually arresting “The Pearl Fishers” returns to the Coliseum in London in a revival of the 2010 English National Opera co-production with the Metropolitan Opera of New York.
The original production was praised for its stunning effects ...
The principals' voices soar and blend in this stunning new production of Puccini's masterpiece on star-crossed love.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
As a stunning curtain, decorated with modernistic kimonos, rises on an equally striking set, all light and platforms in primary colors, it seems that the new San Francisco production of “Madame Butterfly” is going to be about Jun Kaneko’s production ...
Lavish sets and costumes notwithstanding, this production is, musically, a mixed bag.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
“La Traviata,” that quintessential tale of a Parisian courtesan-with-a-heart-of-gold-except-she-dies-of-consumption-at-the-end, is one of Verdi’s most beautiful and beloved operas. That’s the first reason to go and see the revival at San Francisco Opera. The second is the production, originally directed by ...
Steered by the crisp direction of Francesca Zambello and the sure baton of John DeMain, this “Show Boat” fills the opera house stage in a tribute to an American musical classic.
Suzanne WeissCA,
Y’all come on down to the levee folks. The “Show Boat” is in town and it’s a singin’, dancin’ romp. But is it an opera? Well, maybe more of an operetta, but who cares? In a spiffy production at San ...
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 ...
