(Photo Credit: WMB Photo) On March 5, 2020, the Curtis Institute of Music lifted the curtain on its run of Benjamin Britten’s “Albert Herring.” A springtime favorite, this opera explores themes of chastity and societal expectations through the eyes of a young greengrocer who finds himself at the center of Loxford’s May Day celebrations. The work employs a number of {…}
(Credit: © ROH 2020 Stephen Cummiskey) The London Handel Festival has birthed several successful collaborations with the Royal Opera House, and this is the second year they’ve staged a work in the new Linbury Theatre. The oratorio “Susanna,” with a text attributed to “Solomon” author Moses Mendez, makes its return to Covent Garden, where it received its premiere, after 271-years {…}
(Photo Provided by Pocket Opera) Pocket Opera, the San Francisco Bay Area’s flagship chamber opera company, opened its 2020 season on March 1, 2020 with the Mozart/Da Ponte masterpiece, “Don Giovanni.” The production was the first under the leadership of the company’s recently installed artistic director, Nicolas A. Garcia. Garcia previously served as the assistant artistic director under Pocket Opera’s {…}
(Credit: Miguel Lorenzo/Mikel Ponce) Rossini’s “Il viaggio a Reims” is a difficult show to stage. To begin with, it was written as a “cantata” and not an opera, and it has 14 solo voices. Moreover, it is a compilation of Rossini’s past compositions, including his opera buffa and serious works, but with a stronger influence of the French “Grand Opera” {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) The Teatro Real de Madrid continued its staging of Wagner’s tetralogy with the second, and arguably most popular installment, “Die Walküre.” The production features the same artistic-conducting team with Robert Carsen directing and Pablo Heras-Casado on the pit. Sadly, given that each opera of this cycle is being performed one season at a time, the casts {…}
On February 28, 2020, a globe-spanning roster of artists came together in St. John’s in the Village for an evening of cultural songs, presented by Meche Kroop of Voce di Meche. A firm supporter of the performing arts, Kroop encourages emerging artists through performance reviews as well as sponsoring prizes in vocal competitions with organizations such as NYIOP and the {…}
(Credit: Bill Cooper) Anticipation was already at fever pitch for this new production of “Fidelio” in London, even before Oliver Mears, Royal Opera Artistic Director, appeared on stage before curtain up, evidently the bearer of bad news. “Please don’t be alarmed,” he reassured: Tenor Jonas Kaufmann only had a cold, would indeed sing, and asked for our indulgence. “We’ve been {…}
(Image Source: Official website) The great critic Edward Said saw Mozart and Da Ponte’s “Così fan tutte” as a work of irreconcilable contradictions: astonishingly tender in its explorations of longing, fear, and regret, yet also strangely cold and unredeemed; a world of libertinage and manipulation that burns forward without any clear moral purpose. The frivolity of its scenario is powerfully {…}
(Credit: Brandon Patoc) Esa Pekka-Salonen, Music Director Designate of the San Francisco Symphony, conducted a largely French program this past week with soprano Julia Bullock. At the core of the program were two vocal cycles including Britten’s Illuminations and Ravel’s setting of poems by Mallarmé. Bookending these pieces was Henry Purcell’s Funeral March reframed by Steven Stuckey, and the Ballet {…}