Vienna State Opera 2017-18 Review – La Traviata: Not Even Plácido Domingo Can Save Jean-François Sivadier’s Misguided Production

It is not too difficult to stage Verdi’s ever-popular tear-jerker “La Traviata.” Francesco Maria Piave’s libretto and stage directions are so detailed any director with access to a few lengths of velvet and some stock chandeliers can create a plausible mis-en-scène to serve Verdi’s marvelous, emotive music. French director Jean-François Sivadier, whose operatic resumé is shorter than a Rossini semiquaver, {…}

Vienna State Opera 2017-18 Review – Andrea Chénier: Jonas Kaufmann Shines, But Another Star Is Brighter

Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier” is in many ways a sibling of Puccini’s “Tosca.” Both were sired by librettist Luigi Illica and both share the staple verismo ingredients of sex, politics, romantic obsession, frustrated baritones, and a grim end for the protagonists. There is also the common factor of youth in all its sanguine exuberance. Cavaradossi and Chénier are idealists with fatal {…}

Metropolitan Opera 2017-18 Review – La Bohème: Michael Fabiano In Top Form Alongside Splendid Sonya Yoncheva, Susanna Phillips, Lucas Meachem & Others

Puccini’s “La Bohème” made a return to the Metropolitan Opera on Friday, February 16, 2018, with a cast that is slated for an HD performance a week from today. On the evidence of this opening night performance, that transmission the world over should be quite special. Zeffirelli’s production needs no introduction (though if you want some commentary, check out these {…}

Lyric Opera of Chicago 2017-18 Review – Rigoletto: Matthew Polenzani, Quinn Kelsey and Rosa Feola Dazzle in Verdi’s Tragedy

The Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its season with a fabulous collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet with the French version of “Orphée et Eurydice.” It was a sensational production, although the fact that Gluck’s work doesn’t really feature a great amount of singing perhaps left a void for some hearty Lyric operagoers. Anybody who felt that way certainly had their {…}

Metropolitan Opera Review 2016-17 – Cyrano de Bergerac: Alagna & Rowley Lead Production Filled With ‘Panache’

Franco Alfano’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” has never truly managed to establish a foothold in the operatic canon. The work only premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 and Roberto Alagna, the opera’s most dedicated interpreter has stated that he struggled to find a company willing to take a chance on it. Despite its Italian composer, the music works very much {…}

Wiener Staatsoper To Live Stream Donizetti’s ‘L’Elisir D’Amore’ Starring Olga Peretyatko & Dmitry Korchak

Are you free this Sunday and want to see an opera from Vienna? This Sunday, Feb. 26 the Wiener Staatsoper will Live Stream Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” from its Live Stream service. The cast includes Olga Mariotti-Peretyatko, Dmitry Korchak, Adam Plachetka and Alessio Arduini. Marco Armiliato conducts the classic Otto Schenk production which was released on DVD by Virgin Classics a {…}

Manon Lescaut CD Review: Anna Netrebko & Yusif Eyvazov Deliver Puccini’s ‘Desperate Passion’ in Intelligent Performance

When Puccini set out to write his “Manon Lescaut,” the composer drew attention to his “feeling it like an Italian, with a desperate passion.” Though the comment came in the context of his comparing it with Massenet’s own interpretation of the work, that idea of desperation has certainly played into numerous readings of the work. A look at the catalogue {…}