(Photo: Matthias Baus) One of the highlights, if not the highlight, of La Monnaie’s 2024–25 season must be its world premiere of Monteverdi’s new opera “I Grotteschi,” a mammoth work, lasting almost seven hours, not including intervals, performed over two evenings. Rafael R. Villalobos as Scenario, Director & Costume Designer conceived and created the production, using extracts from the Monteverdi’s {…}
“This could be my last opera,” predicted Philippe Boesmans in February of last year, just two months before his death at 85. “I’ve done tragedies…so I decided that I have to finish with total lightness, total insouciance.” Virtually unknown in the U.S., the Belgian composer garnered European success with exquisite settings of serious drama: Schnitzler’s “Reigen“ (1993), Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale” {…}
(Credit: L’Opéra Comique official website) UPDATE: L’Opéra Comique has announced the cancellation of the entire run of “Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.” L’Opéra Comique has announced that it has canceled performances of Molière’s “Le Bourgeois gentilhomme” on Sep. 28, 29 & 30, and Oct. 1 & 2, 2020, due to COVID-19. The production was set to star soprano Natalie Pérez and tenor {…}