(Photo Credit: Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera) On Jan. 9, 2020, the Metropolitan Opera resumed this season’s run of Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Zeffirelli’s classically gorgeous production was enlivened by a solid cast of artists under the baton of conductor Marco Armiliato. For this revival, Gregory Keller directed the production which saw it’s performers through a myriad of comedic, animated interactions {…}
This review is for the performance on Jan. 13, 2020. It all started with a breath. But it wasn’t a relaxed breath but an irritated, almost obstructed one. And there was a moan or a hum; a repeated one that built a unique tension and longing at the HERE Mainstage. This is how “Magdalene,” the latest opera created by Danielle {…}
(Credit: Royal Opera House /Tristram Kenton) This review is for the performance on Jan. 10, 2020. Alongside with Richard Eyre’s classic production of “La Traviata,” Richard Jones’ “La bohème” is an important weapon in the Royal Opera’s commercial arsenal, and will therefore be making 16 appearances this year, with myriad casts and three conductors. This is its second revival since {…}
(Credit: Paula Lobo) The MetLiveArts program featured “Ute Lemper: Weimar Holiday” at The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium as part of a special Holiday series. Lemper performed story-telling music by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weil, Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky, Marcellus Schiffer, Shmerke Kaczerginski and Alexander Tamir. The evening highlighted an enlightening and progressive time in Germany’s music history which cultivated the awareness {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl/ Metropolitan Opera) On Jan. 10, 2020 Verdi’s “La Traviata” returned to the stage in Michael Mayer’s production. It was the first revival of the production which scored a divisive reaction from the critics and the audience last season when it premiered. For this revival the Met brought superstar Aleksandra Kurzak, who was taking on the role of {…}
(Credits: Dmitry Lyapustin) On Friday evening at 7:55 p.m. the Žalgiris Arena was full. People rushed to take their places after the hell they had to survive in the parking lot — the biggest indoor arena of the Baltic States somehow was not prepared for so many people coming to the show. “The world’s most beloved tenor” comes to Lithuania every two {…}
In December Houston Grand Opera gave the world premiere of Javier Martínez and Leonard Foglia’s new opera “El Milagro del Recuerdo (The Miracle of Remembering).” The opera was billed as a “mariachi opera” and only the third of its kind ever produced by a professional opera company. While “El Milagro” certainly features mariachi music and singing, the work was much {…}
(This review will focus on the Jan. 4 performance, though with mentions of the Jan. 3 performance as well.) There is a moment near the end of Davide Livermore’s “Die Zauberflöte” at Muscat’s Royal Opera House of Musical Arts in which Tamino and Pamino must face the trials by fire and water with the magic flute in tow. But Livermore {…}
(Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera) The 2019-20 Metropolitan Opera New Year’s Eve gala started at 5:30 p.m and was scheduled to end around four hours later, leaving plenty of time for pre-midnight festivities. However, throughout the performance, you often wondered if the audience, despite witnessing three short Puccini acts from “La Bohème,” “Tosca,” and “Turandot,” might actually welcome the {…}