(Credit: Javier del Real) The Teatro Real succumbed to the latest wave of infections of the new Omicron variant, with COVID once again causing cancellations of opera performances across Europe. But Teatro Real remained determined not to cancel performances and (despite some controversy on how many people were infected) pushed forward to keep the theatre open for the sold-out performances {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) Despite the monumental challenges of navigating the quagmire of pandemic era restrictions and precautions, the Metropolitan Opera offered a triumphal revival of McVicar’s opulent production of Puccini’s beloved masterpiece Tosca. Remarkably, there were no replacements for this performance, a real treat during this time where illness and travel restrictions plague the classical stage. This was a {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) On January 8, 2022, the Metropolitan Opera presented the season premiere for Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The matinee performance saw the audience gather for an afternoon of musical comedy. While not a full house, there was a respectable turnout amid concerns over the Omicron variant which has seen closures and cancellations worldwide. As people found their {…}
(Photo: Marco Caselli) In 1739 Vivaldi complained in a letter to his patron Marquis Guido Bentivoglio about the treatment he had suffered from the directors of Ferrara’s Teatro Bonacossi: “My reputation has been scourged…to the extent they are refusing as a second opera ‘Farnace,’ which I have prepared afresh especially for the company according to written agreements… I will not {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) There is no better title to end a year with than Puccini’s lively story of friendship, love and sickness. “La Bohème” is always an audience favorite and Teatro Real, which for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic had no social distancing measures and could sell all the seats in its theatre, sold out {…}
(Credit; Vincent Pontet / Théâtres Champs Elysées) Late in Offenbach’s operetta “La Vie Parisienne” the ensemble comes together to celebrate how Parisian life is all fun and games. And the work certainly sets out to explore how a cornucopia of people, Parisians and otherwise, come together to engage in role-playing, identity switches, sexual rendez-vous’, Mozart jokes, etc. On the surface {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) On Dec. 31, the Metropolitan Opera opened a new production of “Rigoletto.” It was the first time since 2013 that the company was showcasing a new staging of Verdi’s masterpiece and it was a departure from the Las Vegas set. And all eyes were on Quinn Kelsey, who was singing his first Rigoletto at {…}
In a 2019 article, Lynn René Bayley castigated modern opera for its “bastardization” of its sacred origins. She declared that the post-modernist operatic aesthetic relies too much on brazen sexuality and enigmatic “shock-value,” with such dependencies producing nothing but “gutter trash” performances that are poisoning the artform’s contemporary credibility. After having expressed her disgust at Hans Neuenfels’ laboratory-themed take on Wagner’s {…}
It was an intimate setting for a chorus, the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco. Rows of benches slanted on either side of the polished grand piano that stood like wings. Thirty-five chorus members all dressed in black, took their places in a formal procession. Ian Robertson, San Francisco Chorus Master, and Fabrizio Corona, Associate Chorus Master, followed. While immediate {…}
