Metropolitan Opera 2016-17 Review – Rusalka: Mary Zimmerman, Kristine Opolais & Company Take Us On Dramatically Rich Journey To Find Operatic Identity

We acknowledge that OperaWire is late to the “Rusalka” party, but here is our review for the performance on Feb. 17, 2017, the fifth performance of this run. Antonín Dvorák’s “Rusalka” is the epitome of a metaphorical operatic identity crisis. The opera, which is a grim version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” follows the story of a water {…}

Feb 11, 2017

Metropolitan Opera Review 2016-17 – I Puritani: Diana Damrau, Javier Camarena & Co. Deliver Golden Age Singing

This review is for the performance on Feb. 11, 2017. What happens when the Metropolitan Opera casts four superstars into Bellini’s final opera? The answer is golden age singing. For years “I Puritani” has been a vehicle at the Metropolitan Opera to promote the diva and sometimes has made casting uneven with little attention paid to who can sing the incredibly {…}

Feb 7, 2017

Metropolitan Opera Review 2016-17 – Carmen: Clémentine Margaine & Company Are Dramatically Fulfilling in Bizet’s Masterpiece

This review is for the performance on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. When Sophie Koch cancelled all of her performances for Bizet’s “Carmen” at the Metropolitan Opera, attention immediately turned toward Clémentine Margaine, who was set to make her Met debut on Feb. 3. Instead the French mezzo saw her first performance at the history house pushed up two weeks. Of {…}

Jan 14, 2017

New York City Opera 2016-17 Review – Candide: The Best of All Possible Sopranos Leads a Bountiful Comedic Garden

The best of all possible outcomes for any opera is a strong cast and a great production for a great work. In this context, the New York City Opera can certainly check off the box next to “success” with regards to its new “Candide.” Directed by Harold Prince, the revival of Leonard Bernstein’s comic operetta, which is based on Voltaire’s {…}

Jan 12, 2017

Metropolitan Opera 2016-17 Review – La Bohème: This Is No Routine Production As Fabiano, Pérez & Co. Deliver Vivacity to Powerful Tragedy

This review is for the performance on Wednesday January 11 and is written jointly by David & Francisco Salazar. Applause rang from every corner of the Metropolitan Opera, the audience awaiting the final performer to step onstage so that she too could get her accolades. The moment Ailyn Pérez walked out of the iconic golden curtain, she was not only {…}

Jan 10, 2017

Metropolitan Opera Review 2016-17 – Il Barbiere di Sivilgia: You Will Have Fun Seeing Camarena, Yende, Mattei & This Refreshing Cast

This review is for the performance on Monday Jan. 10, 2017. Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” is one of the most famous works in the operatic repertoire as well as one of the funniest. It contains some of the most memorable melodies and space for singers to fool around and provide vocal fireworks. In recent years, the Metropolitan Opera has {…}

Jan 5, 2017

Metropolitan Opera 2016-17 Review – Roméo Et Juliette: Damrau & Grigolo’s Chemistry As Emotionally Riveting & Sexy As Ever

This review is written for the performance on Wednesday, January 4, 2017. Romeo and Juliette are undeniably the most famous couple in all of western literature and quite possibly the world. In hands of the famous bard, the two star-crossed teens fighting for their love in the midst of a family feud is one filled with tremendous emotional weight and {…}

Dec 19, 2016

LoftOpera 2016 Review – Macbeth: Ambience & Extraordinary Dramatic Goods Make This a Party Worth Attending

This review is for the final performance of the run on Dec. 18, 2017 and was written in collaboration with Francisco Salazar. How do you get younger audiences to engage with that “old” and “outdated” art form known as opera? That is the eternal question for the major opera houses around the world as they look to find a viable {…}

Dec 17, 2016

Metropolitan Opera Review 2016-17 – Nabucco: Placido Domingo, 75, Is Still a Rockstar & So Is the Rest of the Cast

This review is for the performance on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. Verdi’s famed overture for his first masterwork “Nabucco” starts off with a few brass calls followed by a massive explosion of sound a few bars later. From there Verdi’s music traverses the contrast between a glorious melody clamoring for peace and one of military drive. It is this contrast between {…}

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