Taken literally, a “Sonata for Broken Fingers” is—if anything—something of a paradox. On second thought, one might even find it cynical rather than merely facetious; yet on a political—or more broadly moral—level, the phrase suddenly acquires a dystopian quality: music, or art, under oppression. That is the starting point of Joe Cutler’s eponymous music theater piece, released on CD and {…}
If ever as crepuscular an author as Edgar Allan Poe were seasonally appropriate, November—or certainly around Halloween—would be the time. Shrouded in mystery, his life (and death) echoes the tragedy of “Ligeia” (1838), “The Black Cat” (1843), and “Annabel Lee” (1849). That is just to name a random few which, a literary legacy, have stood the test of time. Fittingly, {…}
Madame de Pompadour meets the brush of Joshua Reynolds: thus, or in a similar vein, one might describe the pastel-toned cover of Megan Kahts’ “Dopo notte.” In rococo drapery, the South African mezzo is bathed in a pervasive, yet sensuous, chiaroscuro. Famously, one should not judge a book by its cover; yet here, what you see is exactly what you {…}
This is an album of intimacy, an album that is very internal. It comes from the inside and is best listened to before dawn disturbs the unfolding of the intimate inner space with its noises, crowds, and obligations. The music of the encounter between the listener’s universe and the night that surrounds them. If there is one adjective that {…}
All “Normas” are a spectacle, but some are more spectacular than others—or so the Orwellian adage might go. Marina Rebeka, for instance, set the bar for dramatic intensity in her fiery CD release from last year. By contrast, Melody Moore’s portrayal on EuroArts—though dignified—leans toward restraint. That is not to slight Moore or—indeed—any of her colleagues. As Norma, she commands {…}
An obsession more than just a pet project, the decade-long history of “Nerone” is but an imperfect indicator of the gargantuan scale Arrigo Boito envisioned for his imperial tragedy. The opera is an unwieldy amalgamation of music that–like the scapigliatura movement itself–occupies a liminal space: neither conformist nor truly progressive, but somehow perpetually discontent. “Nerone” very much fits the {…}
After their recent forays into the modern and contemporary repertory, Pentatone’s “Golden Age” indulges instead in an irresistible nostalgia for Met-proven voices: unpretentious yet charmingly picturesque, the album evokes the hedonistic atmosphere of days sadly gone by—when operatic luminaries (think Tucker, or Roberta Peters on the “Ed Sullivan Show”) dazzled with sheer vocal prowess. Show business at its best, then—or {…}
Historically, Wagner stagings have stirred up controversy. They are–to put it bluntly–like a fashion show: seasonally recurrent, fanciful (for better or for worse), and tailored, if you will, to fit just about anything, the blatant as much as the abstruse. New productions, then, warrant a healthy degree of skepticism–especially when, as so often happens, the integrity of the work is {…}
As usual, the 2024 Innsbruck Early Music Festival brought a rare work to the stage: Francesco Bartolomeo Conti’s “Il trionfo della Fama,” a one-act serenata composed in 1723 for the coronation of Emperor Charles VI and Empress Elisabeth Christine in Prague. Conceived as court propaganda, the serenata was commissioned to glorify imperial virtues and Habsburgs’ claims to the divine favor {…}