Suggested reading: Guide to Parsifal with complete libretto and a parallel translation into English by Andrew Porter For his last opera, Wagner dug into German and Christian legends and, in his inimitable fashion, created ...
The Marriage of Figaro is a marriage of Beaumarchais' witty, satirical play about the foibles of lovers and the presumptions of class, with the witty music of Mozart at his most lyrically beautiful, the marriage perfectly brokered by the ...
La Forza del Destino announces its intended theme forcefully in its title, but it really doesn't deliver. The libretto is a mess, a poorly structured story in which unbelievable coincidences, dead characters returning to duel again (in this production, ...
Seattle Opera took the kudos in 1998 for its production of Tristan und Isolde, gloriously cast with Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen, who seem, by virtually unanimous worldwide critical acclaim, to be not only the ideal singers for these ...
The assassination of a king at a masked ball is an event rife with dramatic possibilities, so it is no wonder that when King Gustavus III of Sweden was shot in the back at just such an event in ...
All too often, theatrical works don't come alive on the stage or screen, due to a lack of dramatic tension. Dramatic tension requires conflict and conflict sets up an emotional need in the viewer for resolution. Verdi was adept ...
Is it interesting that what some consider the world most perfect opera, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, is about a consciousless cad? Mozart’s retelling of the Don Juan legend is a study in contrasts, light vs. dark and pure vs. evil. The ...
