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Reviews, Stage Reviews

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2017-18 Review – La Traviata: Kristina Mkhitaryan’s Outstanding Violetta Gains the Russian Soprano “Prima Donna Assoluta” Status

https://operawire.com/deutsche-oper-berlin-2017-18-review-la-traviata-kristina-mkhitaryans-outstanding-violetta-gains-the-russian-soprano-prima-donna-assoluta-status/

The Deutsche Oper Berlin has long been a mecca for iconoclast regie theater directors ranging from Hans Neuenfels and Claus Guth to Ole Anders Tandberg, whose recent staging of “Carmen” had more viscera on the stage than verismo. Curiously, the extant production of “La Traviata” by the former Deutsche Oper Intendant Götz Friedrich, dating back to 1999, is surprisingly uncontroversial. In his {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Barbican Theater 2018 Review: Jonas Kaufmann Is Otherworldly In Strauss’ ‘Four Last Songs’

https://operawire.com/kaufmann-four-last-songs/

He was wonderful. He sang with artistry. He sang with heart. He made you feel as if you understood even more than the words, as if you understood worlds when mainly you were listening to a foreign tongue, written by a composer of 70 years before, writing from within a worldview that hardly now exists. Jonas Kaufmann was at the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Houston Grand Opera 2017-18 Review- Norma: Liudmyla Monastyrska & Jamie Barton Triumph in Bellini’s Masterpiece

https://operawire.com/houston-grand-opera-2017-18-review-norma-liudmyla-monastyrska-jamie-barton-triumph-in-bellinis-masterpiece/

The great German soprano Lilli Lehmann once famously remarked that singing all three Brünnhildes in Wagner’s Ring Cycle , which equals about eight hours of singing, was less taxing than a single performance of Bellini’s “Norma.” Indeed, a great “Norma” certainly doesn’t grow on trees, and in any given generation there are maybe a handful of singers who can tackle {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Teatro Real De Madrid 2017-18 – Gloriana: Anna Caterina Antonacci & David McVicar Team Up For Sensational Revival of Neglected Britten Work

https://operawire.com/teatro-real-de-madrid-2017-18-gloriana-anna-caterina-antonacci-david-mcvicar-team-up-for-sensational-revival-of-neglected-britten-work/

Benjamin Britten’s “Gloriana” was supposed to be one of his great triumphs. The composer himself is quoted, prior to its premiere in 1953, that he saw it as his best work to that point (he had already written “Billy Budd” and “Peter Grimes,” mind you). It was composed for the regal occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. It was one {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Vienna State Opera 2017-18 Review: Parsifal: Alvis Hermanis’ Madhouse Production Will Drive You Crazy (Not In a Good Way)

https://operawire.com/vienna-state-opera-2017-18-review-parsifal-alvis-hermanis-madhouse-production-will-drive-you-crazy-not-in-a-good-way/

Richard Wagner was a 19th century micro-manager in music long before the pejorative appellation appeared in MBA curricula. As his own librettist, casting director, set designer, costume conceptualist, lighting Loge and Dirigent, there was rarely any aspect of his music dramas which Wagner was prepared to relinquish to lesser talents. No composition was more tightly controlled than his ultimate opus “Parsifal,” which {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Into the Amazon – Soprano Elaine Alvarez On San Diego Debut, Evolving Voice & Career

https://operawire.com/into-the-amazon-soprano-elaine-alvarez-on-san-diego-debut-evolving-voice-career/

Elaine Alvarez always knew she was destined for the stage. Or if she didn’t, her mother Yasmin Alvarez certainly did. The soprano, who is slated to make her role debut in “Florencia en el Amazonas” at the San Diego Opera (her house debut, incidentally) grew up in a musical atmosphere that nurtured this potential. In a recent interview with OperaWire {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Washington National Opera 2017-18 Review – Don Carlo: Great Voices & A Brilliant, Fatalist Production Make Verdi Masterwork More Relevant Than Ever

https://operawire.com/washington-national-opera-2017-18-review-don-carlo-great-voices-a-brilliant-fatalist-production-make-verdi-masterwork-more-relevant-than-ever/

It’s somewhat of a cliché for Golden Age thinking to creep into the dialogue of the opera world. How many times have you heard someone make the claim that they don’t make great voices the way they used to? The obvious answer is that they don’t because the world has changed and so have tastes. But sometimes, you’ll find those {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opera Rara 2017-18 Review – The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: Michael Nyman’s Opera About Madness Makes a Lot of Sense in Krakow

https://operawire.com/opera-rara-2017-18-review-the-man-who-mistook-his-wife-for-a-hat-michael-nymans-opera-about-madness-makes-a-lot-of-sense-in-krakow/

Since 2009 Opera Rara has been bringing obscure operatic works to the resplendent royal city of Kraków in Poland. Even though this year’s Opera Rara Festival included works by Charpentier, Gluck, Purcell and John Blow (the latter performed by John Butt and the superb Dunedin Concert) it is not just baroque bijoux which are presented to the receptive and appreciative {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Palazzetto Bru Zane 2017-18 Review – Le Tribut de Zamora: Gounod Bicentennial Year Off to a Great Start in Munich

https://operawire.com/palazzetto-bru-zane-2017-18-review-le-tribut-de-zamora-gounod-bicentennial-year-off-to-a-great-start-in-munich/

Charles Gounod (1818-1893) is probably best known for his opera “Faust” or perennial arrangement of Bach’s “Ave Maria,” which countless choir boys have crooned with cherubic innocence if not perfect intonation. In fact the pious Parisian composer was extraordinarily prolific having written twelve and a half operas (“Maître Pierre” was not completed), six oratorios, three ballets and countless masses, motets and {…}