Photo: Antone Patterson An opera company’s highest calling is to commission new work—to contribute to the history of opera, to leave a legacy. Seattle Opera has done so, memorably, with “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” The piece, which opened February 25 in Seattle’s McCaw Hall and ends March 11, is Seattle Opera’s first mainstage world premiere since Daron Hagen’s “Amelia” from {…}
Photo: Ken Howard/Met Opera March 7, 2023, saw the second performance of the third cast in the Metropolitan Opera’s run of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” starring Angel Blue. Michael Mayer’s lavish production sets the stage for the unfolding tragedy in ways that both amplify and obscure certain aspects. From the overture, we’re presented with a tableau of the moment following Violetta’s {…}
Photo: David Ruano/Gran Teatre del Liceu Željko Lučić’s Strong Macbeth Serbian baritone Željko Lučić replaced Spanish bass-baritone Carlos Alvarez—who unfortunately had to cancel due to illness—in the role of Macbeth for Verdi’s eponymous opera, currently staged at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. Lučić has regularly performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, where he has given us most of his {…}
Photo: David Ruano/Gran Teatre del Liceu On the 25th of February 2023, Gran Teatro del Liceu streamed their new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” with American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky singing Lady Macbeth, the leading female role. It was a huge success, garnering an explosive reaction from the audience at the curtain call, who showed great admiration towards the cast, orchestra, and {…}
An opera composer, regardless of their era, always has to address the question, “Why opera?” The answer must come from the opera itself. Francesco Filidei and Joël Pommerat’s “L’Inondation” tell us their “whys.” Opera, though deemed an anachronic format, brings back this lyrical rhetoric tradition to recover an overpowering form of sensibility. “L’Inondation,” was based on Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novella “Navodneniye (The Flood),” which tells {…}
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner English National Opera has had a stay of execution from the swinging cuts imposed on them by Arts Council England before Christmas. At least another year of funding is guaranteed, though it has not come without casualties; the “Siegfried” planned as the next installment of their burgeoning “Ring” has reportedly been pulled. A pity, as Richard {…}
A recorded speech before the performance of “Aquiles en Esciros,” explained to the audience that this opera production reached its final stage rehearsals when the pandemic closed down the theatre for months. Not knowing how the situation would develop, the theater kept the sets on the stage for weeks before dismantling them. The opera composed by Francesco Corselli premiered in Madrid {…}
Photo: Anke Sundermeier In 1972, President Nixon made his historic visit to China. The event, at the time, was seen as a pivotal moment in establishing political relations with a country that, since World War Two, had remained largely closed to the wider international community. The significance of Nixon’s visit was reflected in the fact that it received widespread media {…}
Photo Credit: Marty Sohl On February 28, 2023, the Metropolitan Opera raised the curtain on this season’s run of Bellini’s “Norma,” starring Sonya Yoncheva in the title role. Revenge is a Forest David McVicar’s 2017 production is faithful to its source material and effective in its simplicity. The many slender trees either filled the space between the numerous warriors for choral {…}