(Credit: Catherine Ashmore / ROH) Smothered in monochrome, Keith Warner’s 2017 production of Verdi’s “Otello” is a humorless parody of art deco design. Tar-colored towers hold its personages in a chokehold; escorting them onstage with sliding trays resembling CD player disc drives. Vertical slots in the abyss and square-shaped patterns often visible on casual sweaters sever the obscurity. In its {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was the flame that lit a rainy night in San Francisco this past week. With Kathleen Kelly at the piano, she sang an eclectic concert on the subject of love, her powerful and sumptuous voice bringing pleasure and beauty to her entire audience. It was glorious. Barton announced during the concert that she and {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Metropolitan Opera) A debutante. The return of a singer for the first time in eight years. A rising star finally getting a true standout role. A bass-baritone reprising his star-making turn. And one of the great living conductors also making a vital return. These were the main pieces that came together, among others, for what has {…}
(Photo credit: Martha Benedict) “La bohème aka The Hipsters,” Pacific Opera Project’s version of Puccini’s most famous opera, has become a regular holiday-season feature of Los Angeles’s opera calendar. This year’s production is the company’s fifth. Staged at the 1912-vintage Highland Park Ebell Club, POP updates “La bohème” to present-day Highland Park, which these days has a large population of {…}
Saturday, December 7, 2019, saw the finals concert of Premiere Opera Foundation and NYIOP’s International Vocal Competition. The 20 finalists gathered in the resonant First Christian Science Church to share their artistic gifts before a live audience and a panel of distinguished judges, including Paul Hopper of the Metropolitan Opera, Gerald Martin Moore of the Glyndebourne Festival, Pamela Walsh of {…}
A Baroque opera with a goddess riding a flying pig and a sea-god in a submarine? These were just some of the unexpected combinations that you could see if you went to the Opéra de Versailles’ new production of “Ercole Amante.” This co-production of the Opéra National de Bordeaux and the Opéra Comique was performed five times in Paris where {…}
On December 5, 2019, Talents of the World held the grand finals for their third International Voice Competition. Sixteen finalists from across the competition’s regions came together before a panel of judges, comprised of Talents of the World’s directors as well as prominent artistic managers. The opening remarks were delivered by company artistic director Olga Lisovskaya, dedicating this competition to {…}
(Credit: Ellen Wallop/Asia Society) Since its inception, opera has shifted its focus from gods and kings to the more common and middle class folk. But the domestic worker, while making appearances, is almost never at the core of its stories. “Mila,” an opera presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Asia Society on Dec. 7, 2019 in {…}
“The Queen of Spades” is a truly challenging opera to cast, relying on a top tenor that can navigate a complex role. Flanking him are a plethora of other signature roles for two baritones, two mezzo-sopranos, and a soprano. Finally, a good performance of “The Queen of Spades” doesn’t just feature solid singing, but an overall visual immersion that can {…}