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News, Reviews, Stage Reviews

Metropolitan Opera 2019-20 Review: The Magic Flute

https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2019-20-review-the-magic-flute/

On Dec. 15, 2019, The Metropolitan Opera raised the curtain on this season’s run of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Julie Taymor’s family-friendly production continues to be a visual and musical delight that, while abridged, makes for a strong concentration of the work. Under the baton of Lothar Koenigs, Sunday’s cast of artists was comprised of a fine mix of new {…}

News

Staatsoper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Dido and Aeneas

https://operawire.com/staatsoper-berlin-2019-20-review-dido-and-aeneas/

(For Performance Dates: Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, 2019) As the third opera of its second annual Baroque festival, the Staatsoper Berlin revived Sasha Waltz’s choreographic production of “Dido and Aeneas.” Though the production dates from 2005, each performance of the current run has sold out well in advance—a rarity in Berlin, where three excellent opera houses compete for audiences {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Staatsoper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor

https://operawire.com/staatsoper-berlin-2019-20-review-die-lustigen-weiber-von-windsor/

(Credit: Monika Ritterhaus) “Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor,” like the vast majority of Singspiele, is not well-known outside the German-speaking world. Even in its native Germany, it’s mounted infrequently. Its story, however, is almost universally known. Like Verdi’s “Falstaff,” it’s closely based on Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor.” A few details are Germanized: Alice Ford becomes Frau Fluth, and her {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: Nabucco

https://operawire.com/deutsche-oper-berlin-2019-20-review-nabucco/

(Credit: Bernd Uhlig) The Deutsche Oper Berlin’s current “Nabucco” is a production by Keith Warner, first presented in 2013. It’s not an unconventional production, at least by Berlin standards. Where Berlin opera is often characterized by the most provocative nontraditional productions—Frank Castorf’s recent “Forza” premiere, for instance, provoked a near-riot among its Deutsche Oper audiences—Warner’s “Nabucco,” by contrast, feels tame. {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Manhattan School of Music Senior Opera Theater 2018-19 Review: Albert Herring

https://operawire.com/manhattan-school-of-music-senior-opera-theater-2018-19-review-albert-herring/

Saturday, April 13, 2019 saw the second performance of the Manhattan School of Music’s production of the Springtime favorite, “Albert Herring.” With the production running for three nights, each night featured a different cast, comprised of students from the school’s Senior Opera Theater, headed by conductor Jorge Parodi and director Dona D. Vaughn. This effervescent work, composed by Benjamin Britten, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Komische Oper Berlin 2017-18 Review – Eugene Onegin: Barrie Kosky’s Rendition of Tchaikovsky Masterwork Destined to Be Remembered Forever

https://operawire.com/komische-oper-berlin-2017-18-review-eugene-onegin-barrie-koskys-rendition-of-tchaikovsky-masterwork-destined-to-be-remembered-forever/

The Komische Oper in Berlin has soared in reputation under the leadership of Barrie Kosky for its innovative programming.  It is regarded as the destination in town for rarely-performed opera works. Scheduling an opera trip in Berlin is full of challenges and my maiden journey to the Komische was for the altogether familiar “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky on Saturday night {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Opera House 2017-18 Review – Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci: Verismo Duo Falls Prey to Verismo Schtick

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-house-2017-18-review-cavalleria-rusticana-pagliacci-verismo-duo-fall-prey-to-verismo-schtick/

In the beginning of the 20th-century there was a snootiness about verismo opera. All of its propagators – Puccini, Giordano, Mascagni, among others – were accused of simplifying opera by eliminating many of its challenges. Those long showy lines of coloratura were long gone. In place of it, the singers began interspersing notes and passages with great long sighs or {…}