524 search results for…

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 {…}

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 {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q&A: Librettist/Director Crystal Manich & Composer Laura Kaminsky on Pittsburgh Opera’s World Premiere, Telling Audiences It’s “Time to Act” With School Gun Violence

https://operawire.com/qa-librettist-director-crystal-manich-composer-laura-kaminsky-on-pittsburgh-operas-world-premiere-telling-audiences-its-time-to-act-with-school-gun-violence/

  Tonight, Pittsburgh Opera will set the stage to “Time to Act’s” world premiere. A new opera whose setting is a modern day high school and whose characters are teenagers, the opera’s slogan is “build the world you want to see.” The students’ preparation for a production of Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy, “Antigone,” quickly turns into a parallel story of {…}

News

AMOC* to Present ‘Balliett & Aucoin: Two New Song Cycles’ at Lincoln Center

https://operawire.com/amoc-to-present-balliett-aucoin-two-new-song-cycles-at-lincoln-center/

The American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) will return to Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium for Up Close, a series of three one-night-only programs of new and foundational contemporary compositions. The main operatic showcase features baritone William Socolof and composer-pianist Matthew Aucoin presenting “Balliett & Aucoin: Two New Song Cycles.” The program includes Aucoin’s “The Inner Core” and Doug Balliett’s “Camino {…}

News

Curtis Opera Theatre to Present ‘La Passion de Simone’

https://operawire.com/curtis-opera-theatre-to-present-la-passion-de-simone/

Curtis Opera Theatre is set to present “La Passion de Simone” by Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf. The work will be perfumed by the Curtis New Music Ensemble at Philadelphia Film Center’s Mainstage Theater on Feb. 26, 2026 and Feb. 28, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Led by innovative director and new media artist Marcus Shields, “La Passion de Simone” will {…}

Opera Meets Film, Special Features

Opera Meets Film: Translating Moral Ambiguity in Gordon Kampe’s ‘Dogville’

https://operawire.com/opera-meets-film-translating-moral-ambiguity-in-gordon-kampes-dogville/

(Photo Credit: Jo Schramm) Operatic depictions of cruelty, vengeance, wrath, mercilessness, wickedness, barbarism, savagery, and anger seem hallmark elements of the genre itself. From villains like Queen of the Night, Lady Macbeth, and Don Giovanni to ghastly characters like Elektra, Scarpia, Iago, Mefistofele, and Caesar, all the way to troubled souls like Wotan, Giorgio Germont, Turandot, Poulenc’s Chaplain, Anna Bolena, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Latvian National Opera 2025-26 Review: Salome

https://operawire.com/latvian-national-opera-2026-review-salome/

(Photo: A Zeltina) “Salome” undoubtedly stands as one of the most significant works in the history of German opera. The elements Wagner outlined in his works reached Strauss as a direct torrent of influence, and it is precisely in “Salome” where Strauss finally finds—after “Guntram” and “Feuersnot”—a personal, absolute, and unmistakably original musical language. I have always perceived in “Salome” {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opéra de Monte-Carlo 2025-26 Review: Die Walküre

https://operawire.com/opera-de-monte-carlo-2026-review-die-walkure/

(Credit: ©OMC – Marco Borrelli) With its performances of “Das Rheingold” in 2025, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo launched an ambitious four-year project to present Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in a new production by Davide Livermore, featuring the period-instrument ensemble Les Musiciens du Prince. Livermore’s Staging One of the more striking contradictions in contemporary opera is the frequent pairing of {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

OperaLombardia Teatro Sociale di Como 2025-26 Review: Don Quichotte

https://operawire.com/operalombardia-teatro-sociale-di-como-2025-26-review-don-quichotte/

(Photo: Giorgio Serinelli) Composed in 1909 and premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in February 1910, “Don Quichotte” stands as the last great success of Jules Massenet and one of the most singular titles in his vast output. The work was born at a moment of full artistic maturity for the composer, who was fully aware of the proximity of {…}