In order to review Bard Summerscape’s production of Anton Rubinstein’s seldom-heard opera, “Demon,” it may be best to actually review the work itself. This isn’t, after all, the super-familiar “La Bohème” we are talking about. While apparently the opera has found favor and a niche in the Russian Motherland, it is largely unknown throughout the rest of the known operatic {…}
The mass movement of people that is taking place, from poor countries to the wealthier countries of the West, is causing social upheaval and human suffering on scale which has not been seen since the end of the Second World War. Millions of lives have been affected by this mass migratory flow, some positively, some negatively. Earlier this year, in {…}
This review is for the performance on July 14, 2018. Following a highly evocative night with “The Magic Flute” at the Estates Theatre, the Prague Summer Nights Festival put on the first of its two performances of “The Marriage of Figaro.” Whereas the work of the previous night illuminated the artists through its minimalist staging, Saturday’s performance saw the cast {…}
Undoubtedly the most successful musical ever written about Argentina was Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Evita,” which stormed into the Prince Edward Theatre in London in 1978. Ten years before, Astor Piazzolla’s “María de Buenos Aires” made a much more modest debut at the Sala Planeta in the Argentinean capital. Nominally a “tango operita,” this relatively short work is a much more fascinating {…}
The last time Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” was seen at Santa Fe Opera in 1999, the world was on the brink of a new millennium. Nineteen years later, this masterpiece finally saw a brilliant return to the Crosby Theater, in a new production by director Tim Albery and set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel. Though “Ariadne auf Naxos” is now considered one {…}
This review is for the performance on July 13, 2018. At the Prague Summer Nights Festival, a festival featuring young artists, the first few weeks saw a number of splendid concerts, workshops, and competitions all hosted in a city famous for its musical history. As the festival readied to draw to a close, it would do so by staging some {…}
In 2012, a version of Handel’s “Rinaldo,” written for Naples in 1718, was discovered in a castle in England. It is a reconstructed version, by a lesser-known baroque composer, Leonardo Leo, who had also included parts by Vivaldi and numerous other composers. This pastiche is the version that is being performed at the Festival della Valle d’Itria, 300 years after {…}
Caramoor ended its summer festival with a special treat for opera lovers, a concert with Susan Graham, accompanied by the always-fabulous Orchestra of St. Luke’s, led by Nicholas McGegan. Once again, the weather on the leafy estate of Caramoor, with its sumptuous gardens and grounds, was a perfect match to the delightful and intriguing program. The first part of the {…}
There is something so intimate about the theater at Santa Fe Opera. Though intimacy may not be the word in mind for the over 2,000 seat semi-outdoor theater, it was magical to watch the setting sun as the backdrop for Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” It’s a treat reserved specifically for the New Mexican audience. Director Lee Blakely’s melancholy production of “Madama {…}