(Photo credit: Marty Sohl) This review was written in collaboration with David Salazar. On April 23, the Metropolitan Opera opened a new production of “Lucia di Lammermoor.” This marked the second production of Donizetti’s masterpiece during General Manager Peter Gelb’s term. In 2007, the company brought a production by Mary Zimmerman which set the piece in Victorian times and {…}
(Photo: Catherine Ashmore) Such has been the success of Margret Atwood’s novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” that, since its publication in 1985, it now finds itself positioned alongside other major 20th century dystopian novels, drawing comparisons with Orwell’s “1984” and Huxley’s “Brave New World.” Like them, it has entered the cultural mainstream, spawning plays, films, a ballet, a major television series, {…}
On Saturday, April 9, 2022, San Francisco Performances presented renowned German baritone Matthias Goerne and notable prize-winning young Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho in an extraordinary concert. The performance was like being at a mountain retreat on a distant planet, drinking distilled ambrosia while hearing rare melodies in an exotic language. Clapping nearly seemed irrelevant; how do we applaud such a {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) David Alden’s 2018 production of “Lohengrin,” Wagner’s hokey fable of love, fidelity, and politics, is receiving its first revival from Peter Relton at the Royal Opera House. Alden’s setting is generic postwar Europe, all bombed out windows and bare brick, with buildings at precariously jaunty angles (sets by Paul Steinberg). In the ruins of this world Konig {…}
On April 3, 2022, CAL PERFORMANCES presented “Sunday in the Park,” a musical celebration that filled the heart, mind, and soul for nearly two hours. Two artists of exceptional talent—Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano extraordinaire and noted American composer and pianist Jake Heggie—offered a program ranging from Schubert and Brahms to Price and Heggie himself. The concert was a sheer and satisfying delight {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) On the 30th of March the acclaimed American soprano Lisette Oropesa offered a solo recital at Madrid’s Teatro Real. She presented an interesting program, mostly in French, of six rarely performed arias and two encores. Being a lirico leggera soprano, half of her arias kept her voice in the middle register and showcased little coloratura and {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) This is a review of the April 1st performance, the opening night of this production’s first revival at the Metropolitan Opera. To stage a successful production of Strauss’ “Elektra” is a monumental feat all its own, but to do it with such sophistication and finesse as the Metropolitan Opera’s Friday night performance is herculean. {…}
Hoping to reinvigorate waning public interest in Italian opera’s extravagance and pretentious filigree, Händel was of no mind to delay conceiving a new orientation for his musical talents. Thus, despite staying firmly committed to his Italian proclivity, he began creating English oratorios on the side to supplement lost income, and after a series of tries with both English and Italian, {…}
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 {…}