With an excellent cast and fine playing from the orchestra under Conductor Dean Williamson, Arizona Opera presented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” at Phoenix Symphony Hall on April 5, 2019. Moral High Ground Stage Director Tara Faircloth chose to expand upon the amusing situations in Lorenzo da Ponte’s libretto, so that cast members were often running around the {…}
(Photo: Brescia/Amisano – Teatro alla Scala) Defeated by the Tsar, the Old Believers gather together, for a final act of defiance as they prepare for their mass suicide. Led by the monk, Dosifey, they crowd the stage and invoke the name of the Lord, in preparation for their deaths. The Moon, slowly moving towards the Earth, explodes into flames and {…}
(Credit: Richard Termine / Met Opera) Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” is undeniably one of his greatest operas. The work certainly has its dramatic challenges, but it is hard to look at the score and find one piece that misses the mark. Every single musical number is vibrant, full of life, and unique in its own way. Not even the {…}
Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed’s “Today It Rains,” Opera Parallèle’s Chamber Opera train trip with Georgia O’Keeffe, premiered in San Francisco with a lot of hoopla. From New York’s Penn Station to Santa Fe’s Lamy Station, a journey from romance with heartache to open sky and liberation, the company offered a fresh take on some of O’Keeffe’s artistic {…}
After the performances of Cavalli’s “La Calisto,” the bets were high for the staging of one of the jewels of English composer Henry Purcell – “Dido & Aeneas.” This production by Sasha Waltz premiered at the Berlin Staatsoper in 2005 and has travelled around the world. Waltz, a German contemporary choreographer and dancer, integrates dance, music, text, sets and costumes {…}
Writing a review can be a rather unique experience. Often we make a statement about a performance, expecting it to blanket an entire run of shows. After the first performance or second, we might be tempted to make the claim that either it was a mediocre performance with “decent” singers or we were impressed by the evening that exceeded any {…}
On March 31, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions were brought to a thrilling conclusion with their grand finals concert. Hosted by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, nine young finalists took to the Metropolitan’s stage for the first time to share their artistic gifts with the audience. Opening the afternoon’s concert was soprano Meghan Kasanders, singing “Dich, teure Halle’ from {…}
The American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, concluded its 2018-19 season at Carnegie Hall with a much anticipated and unique Czech version of Bohuslav Martinů’s opera “Julietta.” With the title role sung by American soprano Sara Jakubiak and the role of Michel sung by Met Opera artist Aaron Blake, the opera revival was geared towards success from the start. {…}
(Photo: Alessia Santambrogio) Alfredo Catalani died prematurely of tuberculosis, at the age of 39, having completed five operas. Today he is really only remembered for one of them, namely “La Wally” and even this receives only an occasional performance, and is known primarily for its famous aria “Ebben.. ne andrò lontana” and the fact one of its main characters, Hagenbach, {…}