Donizetti’s opera “La Favorite,” originally written in French for the L’Opera, Paris, was quickly translated into Italian, and soon became the preferred version. However, in the last quarter of the 20th century this trend was reversed and today it is the French version that is more widely performed, and for the first time, Florence’s Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has decided {…}
There was much anticipation Saturday night for the opening of “Faust” at Lyric Opera of Chicago in a new co-production with the Portland Opera. It’s certain that Gounod’s tale of the title character making a deal with the devil has never been told this way. There’s probably a clear dividing line on this production. If you prefer a grand opera {…}
It’s somewhat of a cliché for Golden Age thinking to creep into the dialogue of the opera world. How many times have you heard someone make the claim that they don’t make great voices the way they used to? The obvious answer is that they don’t because the world has changed and so have tastes. But sometimes, you’ll find those {…}
An alien orchestra playing in the illustrious Wiener Staatsoper is about as rare as a running of the bulls on the Ringstrasse. Apart from a one-night swap with the La Scala orchestra in 2011, in recent years only Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Talens Lyriques, and the Freiburger Barockorchester have been granted such a privilege. The latest member of this {…}
Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday, March 1, 2018, in a hotly anticipated revival of Patrice Chéreau’s production. Last time out, the production was a smash hit, its stripped-down sets allowing for the audience to focus on the violent drama put before us. It continues to work in that vein, though its overall stillness might not {…}
When a lyricist describes his composer’s head as “full of maggots”, the chances of a harmonious collaborative outcome would seem slim. For Charles Jennens, the aesthete aristocratic librettist of Handel’s oratorio “Saul,” such a jeremiad was not a solitary instance. The principal object of Jennens’ ire was Handel’s highly original orchestration, especially the invention of a tinkling bell-like keyboard called a “Carillon” {…}
The basic premise of “Così fan tutte” is that the women are the butt of the joke as they are fooled by wily old Don Alfonso and the maid Despina into falling for men from distant Albania while believing that their lovers are away having gone to war. Despite that plot point, it is fair to say “advantage women” for {…}
More than 300 years ago, in 1694, the small Venetian theatre of Teatro Grimani di SS Giovanni e Paolo presented Albinoni’s first opera, “Zenobia, Regina de’ Palmireni,” as part of the carnival season. It has now returned to Venice, this time at the Teatro Malibran, for only its second production in the modern era (The first being in Damascus in {…}
Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” has been a staple of the repertoire for years and at the Metropolitan Opera, it has had somewhat of a renaissance ever since Anthony Minghella’s inventive production came opened in 2006. The opera is really a showcase for a great soprano who can bring forth intense emotions and who can captivate an audience with the lead character’s suffering. For this {…}