Opernhaus Zürich 2023-24 Review: Andrea Chénier

https://operawire.com/opernhaus-zurich-2023-24-review-andrea-chenier/

“Andrea Chénier” is the greatest masterpiece of Umberto Giordano, one of the most prominent exponents of Verismo. The plot is based on historical events: poet and scholar André Chénier, who had sympathized with revolutionary ideas, was guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution of 1789. The libretto features a love story between Chénier and Maddalena {…}

Editorials, Reviews

Editorial: Russian Opera Through the Iron Curtain

https://operawire.com/editorial-russian-opera-through-the-iron-curtain/

There are not many editorials that I write and have a memory to start with. The opera industry changes fast as new world crises hit it again and again. Today, we cannot even say if Peter Gelb is the villain or a savior. One of my last memories from Russia, before I left it about ten years ago after Russia {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Opera House 2023-24 Review: Andrea Chénier

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-house-2023-24-review-andrea-chenier/

(Credit: Mark Brenner) Barely a fortnight after His Majesty the King, opera luminaries, star singers, guests and audience all gathered to bid a fond and emotional farewell to Antonio Pappano as the Royal Opera House’s musical director; the maestro was back on the very same podium, guiding his musical charges through Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.” Based loosely on the real-life French {…}

News

J’Nai Bridges, Yonghoon Lee, Russell Thomas, Diego Torre, Vanessa Goikoetxea Headline Seattle Opera’s 2024-25 Season

https://operawire.com/jnai-bridges-yonghoon-lee-russell-thomas-diego-torre-vanessa-goikoetxea-headline-seattle-operas-2024-25-season/

Seattle Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. “The 2024-25 season really offers something for everybody,” said general director Christina Scheppelmann in an official press statement. “We’re bringing in some of our audiences’ all-time favorite operas, like ‘Tosca’ and ‘The Magic Flute,’ in addition to a pair of remarkable new pieces from some of today’s most acclaimed and imaginative creators. And {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opernhaus Zürich 2023-24 Review: Platée

https://operawire.com/opernhaus-zurich-2023-24-review-platee/

The Opernhaus Zürich presents a new production of a French Baroque masterpiece: “Platée,” a ballet-bouffon composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1745. The premiere took place in Versailles as part of the festivities for the wedding of Louis XV with María Teresa Rafaela of Spain. The libretto, by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d’Orville, draws inspiration from Greek mythology. It narrates the tale {…}

Opera Meets Film, Special Features

Opera Meets Film: Robert Ashley’s TV Opera ‘Perfect Lives’

https://operawire.com/opera-meets-film-robert-ashleys-perfect-lives/

It’s easier to appreciate Robert Ashley’s 1983 “Perfect Lives” by simply accepting it on faith as an “opera” rather than try to cram it into the narrow definition established for the genre. There’s quite a bit of text, some singing, a story with characters, and perhaps too much of a visual spectacle. Purists with preconceived notions about how exactly these {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Bayreuth Festival 2023 Review: Der Ring des Nibelungen

https://operawire.com/bayreuth-festival-2023-review-der-ring-des-nibelungen/

(Photo: © Enrico Nawrath) As the final cycle of Bayreuth’s 2023 “Ring des Nibelungen” came to a close, the air remained electric with the sounds of Wagner’s apocalyptic horns and the swirling raptures of the Rhine. Camps came away divided into those either outraged or captivated by director Valentin Schwarz‘s reinvention of the Walsung’s messy journey into oblivion. To be {…}

News

Greek National Opera & Neon’s Commission ‘Bleat’ to Premiere at the New York Film Festival

https://operawire.com/greek-national-opera-neons-commission-bleat-to-premiere-at-the-new-york-film-festival/

(Photo of Emma Stone in Bleat by Yorgos Lanthimos) The Greek National Opera has announced that Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s short film “Bleat” will receive its United States premiere at the 61st New York Film Festival. The film features music by J. S. Bach/Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hokosawa, which will be performed by a live music ensemble for the premiere {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Metropolitan Opera 2022-2023 Review: L’Elisir d’Amore (Cast B)

https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2022-2023-review-lelisir-damore-cast-b/

On April 13, 2023, the Metropolitan Opera opened its April run of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.” Bartlett Sher’s 2012 production was met with new life thanks to a number of stunning debuts from the cast. The staging itself presents a view of Italy during unification which neither rebukes nor flatters the historical context of the work, leaving an authentic, if understated, {…}

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Opernhaus Zürich 2023-24 Review: Andrea Chénier

Editorial: Russian Opera Through the Iron Curtain

Royal Opera House 2023-24 Review: Andrea Chénier

J’Nai Bridges, Yonghoon Lee, Russell Thomas, Diego Torre, Vanessa Goikoetxea Headline Seattle Opera’s 2024-25 Season

Opernhaus Zürich 2023-24 Review: Platée

Opera Meets Film: Robert Ashley’s TV Opera ‘Perfect Lives’

Bayreuth Festival 2023 Review: Der Ring des Nibelungen

Greek National Opera & Neon’s Commission ‘Bleat’ to Premiere at the New York Film Festival

Metropolitan Opera 2022-2023 Review: L’Elisir d’Amore (Cast B)