On December 20, 2021, the Oratorio Society of New York returned to Carnegie Hall for its annual performance of Händel’s “Messiah,” a tradition which the organization has kept since 1847. The evening’s concert, dedicated to the memory of company artist and board member Marie Gangemi, was comprised of the first part of the oratorio, with selections from Parts II and {…}
(Credit: Miguel Lorenzo) This review is from the performance on the 16th of December 2021 Despite several singers falling ill, the Palau de Les Arts still managed to find a way to present a revival of its production of “Madama Butterfly”. Jorge Rodriguez-Norton, who played Goro, fell ill and had to be replaced by Mikeldi Atxalandabaso at very short notice. {…}
Opera performances resumed at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon earlier this year as Portugal’s handling of the pandemic was widely praised as possibly the best within the European Union. In Lisbon, ensembles large and small have begun filling up local church series, community performance spaces, and neighborhood stages, while fado singers have returned to smokey late-night bars {…}
On Oct. 28, The Welsh National Opera, to a packed Hippodrome, performed its modernized rendition of the Puccinian classic and arguably one of the most controversial operas in the 21st c. canon, “Madam Butterfly.” Notwithstanding the opera’s subject matter, an Asian girl of 15 being coaxed into an international marriage with a man very much her senior while also being {…}
(Photo: Rolando Paolo Guerzoni) Agitprop is a miserable form of theatre. The creators approach a potential work with a rigid set of ideas they believe it is their duty to convey to a welcoming and grateful public that will reinforce those said values or, even more excitingly, to an audience that is in need of education and enlightenment. Unfortunately, the {…}
Photo credit: 360 of Opera/Diego Valdez There are two certainties during the holiday season: Santa and countless performances of Händel’s “Messiah.” The two collided on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, when composer and pianist Felix Jarrar brought his subversive rendition of Part one of the baroque masterpiece to Rockwood Music Hall, this on the same day as the infamous bacchanal that {…}
(Photo: Fabrizio Sansoni) In 2005, Vlaamse Opera premiered the first part of the Giorgio Battistelli’s Shakespeare trilogy, “Richard III,” to widespread acclaim. It has since gone on to receive a number of productions across Europe, although it had to wait until 2018 to receive its Italian premiere at Venice’s La Fenice. OperaWire was present for the occasion, and for what {…}
(Photo credit: Brett Boardman) Something happens at the end of Pinchgut Opera’s “Platée” that lifts this production from brilliant to moving. It’s a brainwave of director Neil Armfield’s that should be concealed from those who may yet see this production – the Australian premiere season of Rameau’s 1745 opera – at Sydney’s Angel Place Recital Hall or yet purchase the {…}
© The Royal Opera, 2021. Photos by Tristram Kenton Jonathan Kent’s production of “Tosca” for Covent Garden is getting its tenth revival, under the baton of Oksana Lyniv. It’s a regular fixture and a top-seller – though this particular run has already faced down two dramas of its own. First, the cancellation of the original opening night owing to a {…}
