(Credit: Javier del Real) This review belongs to the third performance of cast A on the 16th of November 2020 After an absence of nearly a hundred years, “Rusalka” returned to the stage of Teatro Real, with a new production directed by Christof Loy in co-production with Säschsische Sttaatsoper Dresden, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, {…}
Off the Beaten Track is an album review series that takes readers on a cross-disciplinary journey through recordings, spotlighting the cool, the unusual, and the beautiful work created by artists who push boundaries and take the road less traveled. I have a spooky story for you. Ten friends (seven young women and three young men) flee to the countryside to {…}
(Photo: Gianfranco Rota) If I close my eyes and concentrate, even today, locked in cold, rainy Vilnius, I can easily recall Bergamo in November. Warm, yellow, and red lights make their way through the morning fog in Città Alta. Città Bassa is still dark and sleepy. It’s only 7 a.m., and right from the airport, I take a walk in {…}
Wild rides abound when you take the trail less taken, and in this column, we’ve taken some crazy trips. But in this installment of “Off the Beaten Track,” the album we’ll explore provides us a chance to settle down and reflect. Elyse Anne Kakacek’s sophomore album, “formless” speaks of loss, hope, and joy—themes that permeate our existence during this historic {…}
On Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020 the Los Angeles Opera gave the company premiere of Joseph Bologne’s “L’Amant Anonyme.” As the opera world in the United States reckons with racial inequity throughout the industry (I can’t really speak for how European companies are approaching these challenges or if they are at all), Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges has become a seminal {…}
(Credit: Anna Cillan) They say people tend to see what they want, but the tremendous professionalism of the team at Haymarket Opera convinces me that what I see is real. No matter how anxious we all are feeling these days, and how often the authorities and our own industry disappoint us, when I see people doing their job so brilliantly, {…}
(Credit: Lloyd Winters) The jumbotrons flash with bright colors and larger-than-life faces. The campervans are scattered across Alexandra Palace’s massive outdoor stage. I am transported to some bizzarro Coachella performed in suburban London. I pull my coat close around me as a pervasive English damp and an all-too familiar British wind cut through the desert festival scenes. The cars beginning {…}
As I was going to the first performance of “Werther,” a drame lyrique by Jules Massenet, I was glad that I would finally listen to Piotr Beczała live in this role, which he has performed for 25 years. Nevertheless, as I entered Teatr Wielki – the Polish National Opera, I was also a bit concerned that I was about to {…}
(Credit: Luciano Romano) This review is for the performance on Oct. 16, 2020. “La Rondine” has been unjustly considered a minor work in the Puccini canon. With a plot that reminds many of “La Traviata,” the three-act work was meant to be an operetta but ended up as a hybrid melodrama, it’s confused stylistic identity, relegating it to rare performances. {…}