David E. MorenoSan Francisco,
For the final concert of the 21st Other Minds Festival, Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble delivered a bare bones retrospective of a handful of Monk’s abundant and mesmerizing repertoire. It’s an oxymoron to say that this life long minimalist presented ...
Mary NguyenLondon,
The English National Opera (ENO) first performed Bellini’s 1831 bel canto opera, Norma this month. Christopher Alden's production was first performed by Opera North in 2012, which is a co-production with Die Theatre Chemnitz and has toured to ...
LAOpera repeats their animation-meets-Mozart spectacle.
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
I figure, turn-about is fair play. LAOpera is, once again, mounting the startling production of Komische Opera’s Magic Flute. I raved about it in December 2015, and stick by my opinions, many of which are re-iterated below. My ...
Michael Tilson Thomas steps in at the last minute for James Levine
Lewis WhittingtonPhiladelphia,
Metropolitan Opera maestro James Levine cancelled his appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra due to ill health. San Francisco Orchestra conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (and all around good guy) graciously stepped in for Levine, on very short notice, and nonetheless made ...
Don't count this punchy, jazzy opera out -- it delivers a blow in ways that most opera-goers would grade a well-placed hit.
Suzanne WeissSan Francisco,
“Champion” packs a punch. If Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s opera is not a complete knockout, it may be due to a flabby libretto by Michael Cristofer with words that don’t live up to the power of the highly-listenable score. ...
Fears of the death of opera under director Simon McBurney turn out to be exaggerated, as witnessed in his rendition of Mozart's final operatic work.
Nicholas MarloweLondon,
Simon McBurney has returned to the English National Opera to direct the first revival of his production of Mozart's last great opera, which McBurney originally staged at the Coliseum in 2013. When his name was announced, there was a tendency ...
Mary NguyenLondon,
In mid-December, St John's Smith Square was alight with their 30th annual Christmas Festival. The final performances of the festival included masterpieces that one would expect to see during the festive season including Bach's Mass in B minor and Handel's ...
Mary NguyenLondon,
Last week St John's Smith Square was alight by their 30th annual Christmas Festival. The final performances of the festival included masterpieces that one would expect to see during the festive season including Bach's Mass in B minor and Handel's ...
In this double-bill of one-acts, Getty's take on Poe's gothic tale is more muddled than macabre, and an unfinished Debussy work gets a tortured reconstruction.
San Francisco,
An opera based on a Poe short story had its American premiere at the War Memorial Opera House recently. With great expectations it was born and, four performances later, mercifully it died. Whatever prompted San Francisco Opera to present Gordon ...
Mary NguyenLondon,
Back in 2003, Naomi Matsumoto came across an edited score at the Marciana Library in Venice. It was a handwritten score, which seemed to have been written in the 17th century with no mention of a composer or ...
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