Credit: Kathy Wittman It might be ingenuous to say, but in one’s opinion any opera that features a dragon singing a long melisma on the word “whore,” especially when it follows the ominous words “son of a,” is an unforgettable piece of theater. “The Dragon of Wantley” is based on the old legend that a dragon roamed South Yorkshire, a {…}
“This could be my last opera,” predicted Philippe Boesmans in February of last year, just two months before his death at 85. “I’ve done tragedies…so I decided that I have to finish with total lightness, total insouciance.” Virtually unknown in the U.S., the Belgian composer garnered European success with exquisite settings of serious drama: Schnitzler’s “Reigen“ (1993), Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale” {…}
Credit: © OMC-Marco Borrelli On Sunday November 26th, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo gave the final performance of its first staged opera of the season, a new production of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” in the four-act Italian version of 1884. The staging was entrusted to the Turin-based Davide Livermore, scenographer Giò Forma, costume designer Sofia Tasmagambetova and Video designer D-WOK. Although Livermore {…}
Credit: Meg Goldman Verdi’s “Rigoletto” was staged by Regina Opera Company in Brooklyn, New York, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Nov. 18, 2023. Impressive vocalists in the cast included Peter Hakjoon Kim in the title role, Veronica Mak as Gilda, and Christopher Trapani as the Duke of Mantua. Scott Jackson Wiley was on the podium, conducting the Regina {…}
Few things inspire one to brave the winter cold, most specifically the inner city wind with its biting apathy and fierce animosity towards exposed skin and flesh. However, during the early afternoon on November 25th, one might have felt especially moved to brave the unforgiving temperatures in downtown Stockholm for the Swedish Radio Choir‘s performance of two of J. S. {…}
(Credit: Kristen Loken / San Francisco Opera) San Francisco Opera ended its Fall Season by going back to basics with Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore,” boy loves girl, girl not at all sure about boy, charlatan quack-doctor with his “magical elixir” will cure that, comic hi-jinx, chorus of happy men and women, hotel by the sea, hot air balloon, motorized vespas, and {…}
(Photo credit: Daniel Boud) Concert performances of “Das Rheingold” by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in the Opera House Concert Hall November 16-18 were the most recent events in what is shaping up to be a bit of a Wagner year in Australia. Next month sees Opera Australia’s much-awaited new “Ring cycle” in Brisbane, delayed twice previously by COVID. Back {…}
(Photo Credit: Richard Termine) On November 17, 2023, The New York Pops returned to Carnegie Hall for a special concert, featuring Broadway stars Kelli O’Hara and Sutton Foster. The concert comes as part of the company’s “One Night Only” series which sees renowned guest artists in a specially-tailored program celebrating their careers on stage. Most recently, O’Hara has taken on {…}
(Photo credit: Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre) Columbia University’s Miller Theatre featured “John Zorn at 70,” with works by avant-garde and experimental composer and conductor John Zorn on November 16, 2023 to a sold out audience. Zorn, well-known for his “deliberate category resistance,” is one of New York’s most important composers. His support for his artistic community is unconditional and {…}