The Metropolitan Opera’s first Ring Cycle of the 2018-19 season came to a glorious end with “Götterdämmerung” in a production featuring a tremendous cast. In some ways, this might have been the most satisfying evening of the entire cycle, with a luxurious cast of true singing actors against a production that, at times, had something to say. A Hero Above {…}
For the average older music lover, “Dance of the Hours” invariably conjures up images of Walt Disney’s plump pirouetting hippos in “Fantasia.” Or possibly Allan Sherman’s summer-camp horror story “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda.” Any connection to Amilcare’s Ponchielli’s very grand opera “La Gioconda” would more likely be left to the erudition of the panel on the Metropolitan Opera quiz. “Gioconda” {…}
I have long mulled over Stravinsky’s concept of theater and his ideas about the relationship of words and dance to music. This concert may have helped me understand it. Led by their Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented the 1947 ballet “Orpheus” and 1934 cantata, “Perséphone,” in what was the third and final concert in a mini-series {…}
On April 20, 2019, audiences gathered at the Metropolitan Opera for one of the last few performances of this season’s run of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The nearly-full auditorium was abuzz and for a number of reasons. This new production by Michael Mayer opened in December to mixed reception, resuming its run in the beginning of April. Despite the gorgeous {…}
“Don Pasquale” is often considered Donizetti’s comic masterpiece, and if it is not perform as regularly as Donizetti’s “ L’Elisir d’Amore” one need not look further than the demanding part written for the tenor; but when you have Javier Camarena in the cast, you have no reason to worry about anything. But this production was not only about the great {…}
(Photo Credit: Rupert Larl) Strange as it may now seem, but “Mignon” by the French composer, Thomas, was one of the most popular operas of its day. Premiered at Paris’ Opera-Comique in November 1866, it received its 100th performance by July the following year, and its 1,000th by 1894. Its reception in Germany, however, was less successful, maybe unsurprisingly so, {…}
Saturday, April 13, 2019 saw the second performance of the Manhattan School of Music’s production of the Springtime favorite, “Albert Herring.” With the production running for three nights, each night featured a different cast, comprised of students from the school’s Senior Opera Theater, headed by conductor Jorge Parodi and director Dona D. Vaughn. This effervescent work, composed by Benjamin Britten, {…}
On April 12, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera resumed it season’s run of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Occupying a rather unique space as a dramma giocoso, the work unfolds the allegorical message through often-comedic methods. The cast and crew of Friday’s performance strongly favored these comedic elements, much to the delight of the audience. Michael Grandage’s production highlights the universal nature of {…}
The Paris Opera revived the Calixto Bieto’s production of “Carmen” at La Bastille with a cast to die for: Anita Rachvelishvili and Roberto Alagna as the tormented couple of Carmen and Don Jose, and Nicole Carr and Roberto Tagliavini as Micaëla and Escamillo. Lorenzo Viotti also made his debut with the company conducting the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris. {…}