Photo: Seattle Opera What a treat to see a world premiere deliver a gripping operatic experience. Everyone involved in this endeavor earned kudos individually and cumulatively—the vision of what was possible was manifested collaboratively, each creative element building upon the others. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is a new opera based on Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling 2007 novel about the resilience of {…}
Photo: Marc Brenner Having an unequivocal passion for Puccini, this reviewer must confess to being somewhat conflicted over his final work. These concerns, though, have always been assuaged with the knowledge that many others have also been plagued with such uncertainty, not least with the original work itself, for, of course, the maestro died before the completion of “Turandot.” After {…}
Photo: Unison Media “Con Alma” was performed at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC’s Trusteeship Chamber on March 14th, 2023. This once-in-a-lifetime experience, presented by VisionIntoArt, and Death of Classical, in partnership with Carnegie Hall, showcased the album “Con Alma” by composer Paola Prestini and Mexican singer and composer Magos Herrera. Performers from the Young People’s Chorus of NYC, led by Artistic {…}
Photo: Heather Bobeck Giacomo Puccini’s “ll trittico.” Is there any other example of such a special trilogy of one-act operas in the canon? (One that comes to mind is a triptych by Paul Hindemith, though the work is rarely performed.) But “Il trittico” was written while Puccini was at the height of his talents, and he composed three one-act operas as a {…}
Opera de Paris presented their classic production of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” by Andrei Serban, which has been in their repertoire since 1995. In nearly thirty years, the best sopranos have incarnated the titular role at the Bastille. Names like June Anderson, Mariela Devia, Sumi Jo, and Natalie Dessay. Roberto Alagna performed Edgardo when the opera premiered. This time, the French {…}
A recent survey by Encore shows that over 1 in 4 UK musicians skip meals because of the cost of living crisis. While the top-tier operatic and classical music from the UK consistently achieves great international success, the well-being of the average and especially emerging artists always seemed quite unstable and problematic. According to the research of the Musicians’ Union (MU) {…}
Photo: Taehyun Hwang/Korean Cultural Center New York Soprano Hera Hyesang Park had her debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall on Friday, March 3rd, in celebration of Women’s History Month and the 70th Anniversary of the alliance between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. In the 2022-23 season, Hera performed Adina in “L’Elisir d’amore” at Staatsoper Berlin, and on {…}
Detroit Opera performed George Friederich Handel’s opera “Xerxes,” written from 1737 to 1738, on commission by the King’s Theatre in London. With a change of hands only months behind, Yuval Sharon has a huge legacy to continue, which was frustrated by the opera’s subpar performance. With a stellar orchestra but a shaky cast, Detroit Opera’s renovated Handel was a very {…}
Photo: Marc Brenner/ROH Somnific fiction is the stuff of bedtime stories starring beasts and feasts of the absurd: displays of madness only children could endure pre-slumber. Lumbering imaginations with beguilement, it refrains from the revilement of base villains, wrapping them instead in tangible entrancement. This enhancement of surrealness makes the fairytale the tender tooth’s apéritif: a nightly dose of magical {…}