“An American Soldier” by Huang Ruo is a striking timely piece. It is a tale about identity and what it means to be American—or to be perceived as such. At its core, it proffers a grimly pessimistic view of society, in which Pvt. Danny Chen, a New Yorker, was racially harassed, abused, and assaulted by fellow soldiers stationed in Afghanistan {…}
Drawn from two live performances in 2024, the Decca release of “The Flying Dutchman” arrives with no small sense of occasion. Its cast alone—Lise Davidsen, Gerald Finley, Stanislas de Barbeyrac—promises one of the most congenial pairings in recent memory. “The Flying Dutchman” has always occupied a somewhat ambivalent place in the Wagnerian discography: too early to be “Tristan,” too compact {…}
“Bluebeard,” or Barbe bleue, may very well rank among the most disturbing of Perrault’s fairy tales. Its notoriety is such that bluebeard, in everyday language, is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a man who marries and kills one wife after another.” The storyline is precisely that—though it has a happy ending, if slaying the murderous protagonist is the type of justice {…}
“Tosca”—yet another one. OperaDIS lists no fewer than 250 recordings, but stops short after the year 2009. For all we know, the newest release—by DG—may be the 500th in an endless loop of “recondite armonie.” But “Tosca” has not lost its appeal, and any new, star-studded interpretation is likely to elicit widespread attention. This is most certainly the case when {…}
The release of “I Lituani” by Accentus Music is a revelatory achievement. Premiered in 1874, the opera presents itself as a medieval-themed “Aida,” complete with a triumphal ballet and a somewhat untempered penchant for musical hyperbole. Yet, above all, it firmly positions Amilcare Ponchielli as a transitional figure between Verdi and Puccini. This in itself is a feat, as {…}
“Simon Boccanegra” – in its standard 1881 revision – is an undisputed, though infrequently performed, masterpiece. But what of its very first iteration from 1857? Its premiere, at Venice’s La Fenice, famously turned into a fiasco. Julian Budden, for example, admitted to the hostility with which the libretto was received, while Verdi himself, in a letter to Giraldoni, wryly picked {…}
B-records’ “Le pays de nos désirs” is a somewhat uneasy listen. Its intentions are admirable, but the program of turn-of-the-century melodies and Lieder does not always come into its own. The repertory is too dense, and too diverse are its stylistic, if not technical requirements for any of the four soloists to emerge completely unscathed from some 76 minutes of {…}
“Par amour” is a revelatory publication. Novel, crafty, and utterly delightful, it puts in the spotlight Vannina Santoni, a French soprano of yet modest clout – but a formidable sensibility. Her program, on Alpha Classics, is an operatic potpourri. It transitions from your regular femme fatale to varying shades of amorous innocence: Thaïs and Manon appear alongside Juliette; Katiusha counterpoints {…}
Eighteen years is far too long to go without recording an opera like Kaija Saariaho’s “Adriana Mater.” The Finnish composer’s 2006 follow-up to “L’Amour de loin” is a work of both hypnotic allure and harrowing immediacy. While it’s good of Deutsche Grammophon to put out this digital-only release, it’s a rather half-hearted tribute to the late Saariaho. There isn’t even {…}