(Credit: Katie Ravas for Drew Altizer Photography) Lise Davidsen‘s voice is a wonder. It is a sound of the universe like nature unassailed. Her CAL performances on Tuesday night, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau, the well-known Scottish pianist, was radiant. This was her first trip to the Bay Area. Despite heavy rains, when the sky cleared, it revealed the Norwegian soprano {…}
Soprano Núria Rial and the Swiss early music ensemble Les Cornets Noirs transported the audience at Laeiszhalle into the sound world of 17th-century Northern Italy. The carefully curated program focused on early Italian sacred music, showcasing Rial’s uniquely weightless and fluid vocal quality. Her natural, effortless singing gave each piece a distinctive texture, while the instrumental interludes seamlessly complemented the {…}
The Opéra-Théâtre de Metz in co-production with the Fondazione Teatro di Pisa, the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini di Jesi, the Fondazione Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti di Modena and the Teatro Sociale di Rovigo, presented Mozart’s “Così fan tutte.” A quasi-synthetic opera after the joyful, mischievous and revolutionary “Le Nozze di Figaro” and the dark, deleterious and almost mystical “Don Giovanni,” he {…}
(Photo: ©Zani-Casadio) In the autumn of 1709, as he was preparing to conclude his journey through Italy, George Frideric Handel triumphantly arrived in Venice to present his second Italian opera, “Agrippina.” The work was enthusiastically received by the audience, who acclaimed the composer with shouts of “Viva il Sassone!” (Long live the Saxon!) and with 27 performances that sealed its {…}
(Photo Credit: Jennifer Packard Photos, Courtesy of Opera Lafayette) “Defying harsh laws, braving even death, I was able to change my fate,” the titular Morgiane sings proudly in Edmond Dédé’s “Morgiane, ou Le Sultan d’Ispahan.” The same could be said of the composer. Born free in New Orleans in 1827, Dédé defied expectations of what a Black man in the {…}
(Credit Photo: Erin Baiano) Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote’s “Blind Injustice” came to New York City this past week, taking the stage of Jazz at Lincoln Center for two performances on Feb. 3 and 4 presented by MasterVoices. The work follows the Ohio Innocence Project’s efforts to overturn the convictions of six men, women, and teens who were wrongly {…}
(Photo: © Javier del Real /Teatro Real de Madrid) The Teatro Real’s recent staging of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” offers a profound and intimate exploration of love, regret, and honor, brought to life by a stellar cast. Ukrainian baritone Iurii Samoilov delivers a convincing portrayal of Eugene Onegin, capturing the character’s evolution from detached arrogance to profound remorse. His performance is {…}
(Photo Credit: Claudia Hoehne) René Jacobs’ concert performance of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” at the Elbphilharmonie provided a resplendent conclusion to Hamburg’s Amadeus Festival, bringing the celebration of Mozart’s genius to a fittingly grand finale. This semi-staged version was a testament to how a concert performance can achieve full theatricality. Compared to his 2009 recording, Jacobs presented a fresh and immediate interpretation, {…}
(Photo: Herwig Prammer / OnP) A very promising night indeed: Paris Opera takes its first step toward its new Ring under the direction of Calixto Bieito—one of the most exciting artists in his field—and with a promising cast. The stakes are particularly high for the company president, Alexander Neef, who would crowd his tenure with a Wagner Ring in continental {…}