Photo Credit: Valeriya Landar/Opera aperta The themes of environmentalism, conservation of natural resources, sustainability, and ecological welfare abound in contemporary discourse due to the increasingly unstable nature of Earth’s condition and humanity’s persistent inability to regulate the actions of the apathetic. Composers of every age, capacity, and style have come forward to voice their views on the matter. From the {…}
(Credit: © Michele Monasta) This week, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino will perform “The Death of Klinghoffer” for the first time in a high-profile production directed by Luca Guadagnino. The cast will feature many familiar faces, including Marina Comparato, who will return to Florence, continuing a long-standing artistic relationship with the Teatro del Maggio. For this production Comparato will perform the {…}
Photo Credit: Miklos Szabo/Lincoln Center (2011) Having composed the internationally celebrated work, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale‘ (1988), an opera which has gained a truly canonical spot in theatrical repertoire thanks to its global embrace, Danish composer Poul Ruders was and remains on the cutting-edge of opera today. With five operas to his name, among them ‘The Thirteenth Child‘ (2016) and ‘Kafka’s {…}
(Photo Credit: Octavio Alonso Maya Castro) Visiting the Palacio de Bellas Artes made me fall in love with opera again. The open plaza welcomed groups of young people walking, laughing, and congregating. The bronze-tiled dome gleamed like a radiant sunset, hugging the luminous marble archway. Stepping inside, the grand foyer projected an entirely different regal stature. Whereas the exterior of {…}
(Credit: West Bay Opera) This week, the Metropolitan Opera will conclude its run of “Madama Butterfly.” It’s been a noteworthy run with two acclaimed sopranos taking on the title role. But that’s not the end of the story. To close it all out, Toni Marie Palmertree will make her principal role debut at the Met as Cio-Cio San. The role {…}
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis On March 25th, Greece celebrates what is called the country’s day of independence, or the Celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821. On this day, Greece successfully liberated itself from Ottoman occupation in the year of 1830 and by 1832, the borders of Greece were solidified. For the 2021 bicentennial of their liberation, the Greek {…}
(Credit: Caitlin Oldham Photography) This week, the Washington National Opera returns with a production of Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha” featuring a new production by Denyce Graves. But perhaps the biggest draw of the night is one of the Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artists in the title role, Viviana Goodwin. The soprano, who has already been in the program for over {…}
(Photo: David Bazemore) Now that 2025 has come and gone, and we are facing a new year of possibilities, it’s best to take a quick review of the stories we’ve explored together in the last years before 2026 really begins. While there has been a good deal of historical articles like the cinematic presence of Maria Callas and Wagner, there’s {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) This week, The Dallas Opera opens a starry production of Verdi’s epic “Don Carlo.” The production showcases some of the lead interpreters of the opera as well as some house debuts. Among them is that of baritone Étienne Dupuis, who will make his Dallas Opera debut in one of his signature roles. The baritone first sang the role {…}
