‘… (Iphigenia)’ Review: A Sacrificial Character Finds Her Voice

Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding team up for an operatic retelling of Euripides’ play. By Heidi Waleson Dec. 14, 2021 5:22 pm Washington Opera is about voices and foundational myths, so what better place to give a voice to the voiceless and retell myths from alternative points of view? “… (Iphigenia),” an intriguing new opera by …

‘Eurydice’ Review: An Ancient Tale Told Anew

The Metropolitan Opera’s staging of the work by composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl refreshes the familiar.  By Heidi Waleson Nov. 24, 2021 5:54 pm New York On Tuesday, for the second time in just two months, the Metropolitan Opera presented the New York premiere of a new opera to an enthusiastic reception. If the …

‘Fidelio’ Review: A Harsh Sentence

San Francisco Opera new production of Beethoven’s work, set in a detention facility, might leave some hoping for an early release.  By Heidi Waleson Oct. 19, 2021 3:15 pm San Francisco  Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” an Enlightenment paean to freedom and a celebration of the triumph of courage over tyranny, is regularly updated to reflect contemporary struggles. A …

Raising the Curtain on Your Computer Screen

While companies slowly return to in-person performances, online videos like ‘La Voix Humaine’ and ‘In Song’ continue to bring the opera house to your home.  By Heidi Waleson Oct. 4, 2021 2:59 pm ETSAVEPRINTTEXTListen to articleLength 6 minutesQueue While live, indoor opera has returned in cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, other …

‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’ Review: The Met Comes Blazing Back

Monday night’s performance, the first in 18 months, featured the Met’s first-ever opera by a Black composer: a stage adaptation of the memoir by Charles M. Blow. By Heidi Waleson Updated Sept. 29, 2021 6:58 pm New York Opening night of the Metropolitan Opera on Monday was a major event: The country’s largest opera company returned …

‘Macbeth’ and ‘Carmen’ Reviews: Bold Voices in the Windy City

In Chicago, a production that moves Verdi’s work to the mid-19th century from medieval times and a concert of Bizet’s classic. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 22, 2021 5:25 pm Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 2021-22 season on Friday with a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” in its regular theater, with full orchestra and chorus. …

Blue’ Review: Opera in the Age of Black Lives Matter

The story of a Black police officer’s family struck by tragedy when their son is killed by a white police officer. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 14, 2021 1:09 pm Detroit Michigan Opera Theatre embarked on a new chapter of its history last year with the appointment, as artistic director, of Yuval Sharon, best known for genre-defying, …

Glimmerglass Festival Review: Opera Under the Open Sky

This year’s festival moved outdoors due to Covid-19 and included ‘The Magic Flute,’ ‘Gods and Mortals,’ ‘Il Trovatore’ and ‘The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson.’ By Heidi Waleson Aug. 18, 2021 1:37 pm ET Cooperstown, N.Y. Francesca Zambello, the general and artistic director of the Glimmerglass Festival, knows how to improvise. With Covid-19 restrictions on live …