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Reviews, Stage Reviews

Washington National Opera 2025-26 Review: The Crucible

https://operawire.com/washington-national-opera-2025-26-review-the-crucible/

(Credit: Scott Suchman) On March 21, the Washington National Opera opened “The Crucible,” its second production of the spring season at the Lisner Auditorium. The Washington National Opera’s decision to showcase this work spotlights the importance of art’s resilience in times where where institutions like the John. F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are being taken over by regimes {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Gregory Spears on ‘Fellow Travelers’ & His Upcoming Opera ‘Sleepers Awake’

https://operawire.com/q-a-gregory-spears-on-fellow-travelers-his-upcoming-opera-sleepers-awake/

Composer Gregory Spears is in the middle of celebrating his breakthrough opera “Fellow Travelers,” which premiered 10 years ago. The opera, which is based on the Thomas Mallon novel set in Washington D.C., during the McCarthy era of the 1950s and focuses on the “lavender scare,” a witch hunt and mass firings of gay people from the United States government, {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Director Jorinde Keesmaat on ‘SHE/HER/ME’ & the Female Perspective in Opera for International Women’s Day

https://operawire.com/q-a-director-jorinde-keesmaat-on-she-her-me-the-female-perspective-in-opera-for-international-womens-day/

(Photo: Welmer Keesmaat) Director Jorinde Keesmaat is working on the concept and staging of a new project, “SHE/HER/ME,” an opera film installation with film and dialogue by Jean Cocteau, music by Philip Glass, and new composition by Molly Joyce. Keesmaat was invited as the keynote speaker to a Women’s Leadership event, ahead of International Women’s Day, to the Consulate General {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Metropolitan Opera 2025-26 Review: Tristan und Isolde

https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2025-26-review-tristan-und-isolde/

(Credit: Karen Almond) In his book, “A New Philosophy of Opera,” director Yuval Sharon notes that “Tristan und Isolde,” alongside “Pelléas et Mélisande” are not only two of the most difficult operas to stage, but “seem like a losing proposition” for any director to take on. He reflects on how oftentimes, director’s attempt to “find physical form for what the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Washington National Opera 2025-26 Review: Treemonisha

https://operawire.com/washington-national-opera-2025-26-review-treemonisha/

On March 8, the Washington National Opera (WNO) presented its first opera, “Treemonisha,” after having broken ties with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For the occasion, the company returned to Lisner Auditorium, the venue where it started 70 years ago and a noticeably smaller one when compared to the opera house at the Kennedy Center. As {…}

Opera Meets Film, Special Features

Opera Meets Film: A 1960s Thriller Born Anew in Stephen Schwartz’s ‘Séance on a Wet Afternoon’

https://operawire.com/opera-meets-film-a-1960s-thriller-born-anew-in-stephen-schwartzs-seance-on-a-wet-afternoon/

(Photo: David Bazemore) Now that 2025 has come and gone, and we are facing a new year of possibilities, it’s best to take a quick review of the stories we’ve explored together in the last years before 2026 really begins. While there has been a good deal of historical articles like the cinematic presence of Maria Callas and Wagner, there’s {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Irish National Opera 2025-26 Review: The Cunning Little Vixen

https://operawire.com/irish-national-opera-2025-26-review-the-cunning-little-vixen/

(Photo: Ruth Medjber) Irish National Opera’s production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” proved to be a valid, yet commonplace, sentimental, child-centered reading, which unfortunately failed to delve below the surface narrative, although this was not the intention of its director, Sophie Motley. The Director’s Ideas Fail to Translate into Practice In her program notes, Motley explained that her aim {…}

News, Season Announcement

Anna Netrebko, Judit Kutasi, Anita Rachvelishvili, Rolando Villazón, Thomas Hampson, Diana Damrau, Corinne Winters, Lawrence Brownlee Headline Hungarian State Opera’s 2026-27 Season

https://operawire.com/anna-netrebko-judit-kutasi-anita-rachvelishvili-rolando-villazon-thomas-hampson-diana-damrau-corinne-winters-lawrence-brownlee-headline-hungarian-state-operas-2026-27-season/

The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 143rd season, featuring 10 new productions, 500 performances across its two venues, and a landmark Kodály centenary celebration. Here is a look at the operatic offerings. New Productions The season opens with a world premiere of “Kodály Háry Jancsika,” a new children’s version of the beloved singspiel performed by the OPERA Children’s Chorus, {…}