There’s always a place for a bittersweet sentimentality at the end of the year when we sum up our best and worst moments to see what place this year gets in our personal tops. This year, many people cannot think about anything like this, at all. Quite obviously, they are the people of Ukraine. Those who live with only two {…}
The English National Opera, one of the largest British operatic institutions and a famous international opera stage, is going through hard times now. After several years of poor economic performance and the recent resignation of its CEO, ENO has lost its £12.6 million core annual funding from Arts Council England starting next year. Instead, the opera house was proposed to {…}
“I believe that art should always be distinguished from politics, otherwise, we shouldn’t have to read Dostoevsky,” Gennaro Sangiuliano, the Culture Minister of Italy. And for this, Italy stands. This October, La Scala confirmed “Boris Godunov” for the season opener and instantly received a letter asking the company to rethink its 2022-23 season. The letter was sent by Ukrainian citizens {…}
In 2017, soprano Hibla Gerzmava was on tour throughout the United States performing at important halls alongside Vladimir Spivakov. The soprano had garnered an international following and had been performing at the great opera houses in the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, where she had made her debut in 2010 and had already been featured in HD performances. However, when {…}
Photo: Juilian Hargreaves Since the end of February 2022, in statements made by several artist or theaters, we have kept reading something along the lines of: “Art must be separated from politics.” It is an encouraging and probably fair point, but can it be, especially, when we talk about opera? Today, when we enjoy a performance worth hundreds of thousands {…}
I tried to write again today, but I cannot write. The war has gone on for one month. Every time I start an article, I burst into tears. My writing only lasts a couple of paragraphs. Today, everyone is talking about the so-called cancelation of [Russian] culture. And in normal life, I’d expect myself to become an ardent advocate of {…}
The worlds of classical operatic and its temperamental present have a complex relationship when dealing with the upholding and rejection of entrenched classicism in operatic productions. It is a relationship that seems to neither effectively nor fully answer the question of “Who is opera for today?” It appears as if modern opera is stuck in a limbo, where directors valiantly {…}
On Thursday night, Feb. 24, 2022, hostilities began in Ukrainian sovereign territory. I dread saying it, but it was neither sudden nor unexpected; it was rumored even to be a bit delayed. Yet, an unpardonable war crime against humanity has occurred. And again, the lives of real people will pay for it. Choose Your Side We all read short sentences {…}
On Fridays, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most essential topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. After another shocking performance at the Salzburg Festival in 2001, Gerard Mortier, the famous opera director himself, spoke about the Neuenfels’ production of “Fledermaus” as he summarized his 10 years {…}
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 {…}
(Photo: L.Romano) On Fridays, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most essential topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. This year, Jonas Kaufmann and Maria Agresta open the season at Teatro San Carlo di Napoli with the new stunning production of “Otello,” directed by Mario Martone. {…}