(Credit: Frances Marshall) In 1353, a few years after the Black Death raged in Florence, Giovanni Boccaccio finished “The Decameron,” 100 stories told by seven women and three men holed up in a countryside villa as they awaited the passing of the plague. It’s a classic of literature, many times bawdy, sometimes tragic, and extremely apropos considering our present-day pandemic. {…}
Remember when we said last week that this month would feature one particular opera rather heavily? Well, it’s that time of the year. And since it is the holiday season, we are going to give a few more companies the benefit of the doubt with works being presented more than once. Cendrillon – Lyric Opera of Chicago Massenet’s take on {…}
This weekend is all about variety with some companies showcasing perennial classics and three others showing modern works with tremendous socio-political relevance. Das Rheingold – Arizona Opera Opera Arizona will showcase the first installment in Wagner’s famed tetralogy with Mark Delavan as Wotan, Rodell Rosel as Loge, Richard Paul Fink as Alberich, Daveda Karanas as Fricka, and Dana Beth Miller {…}
The weekend will be jam-packed with a slew of unique operas, some of them appearing for the first time this season. Giancarlo Menotti’s “The Medium” opens on Friday, with subsequent performances on Saturday over at Pacific Opera Project. Canadian Opera Company continues its run of “L’Elisir d’Amore” on Friday and Sunday and finishes off its run of “Arabella” on Saturday. {…}