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 …

‘The Lord of Cries,’ ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ and ‘Eugene Onegin’ Reviews: Al Fresco Arias

The Sante Fe Opera’s scaled-down summer season includes one world premiere and three classics, performed and produced to varying degrees of success.  By Heidi Waleson Aug. 10, 2021 4:46 pm ET Santa Fe, N.M. With its open-air theater, Santa Fe Opera had a big advantage in the return to in-person performance this summer. Still, evolving pandemic …

King Arthur’ Review: Round Table Love Triangle

For all its romance, Bard SummerScape’s indoor production of Ernest Chausson’s rarely performed opera resembles an action movie with an underlying message: Don’t let a girl into the boys’ club. By Heidi Waleson Updated July 27, 2021 4:21 pm ET Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Some American festivals moved their staged operas outdoors this summer, but Bard SummerScape mounted …

Everest-A Graphic Novel Opera’ Review: Drawn From Life and Death

In Opera Parallèle’s remount of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s fact-based opera, the story of a perilous mountain expedition is presented using sophisticated animation.  By Heidi Waleson July 19, 2021 5:39 pm ET “Everest,” an opera by Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer, made a powerful impression at its Dallas Opera world premiere in 2015. A taut, absorbing …

‘Desert In’ Review: Opera Gets the Miniseries Treatment

Boston Lyric Opera teams up with television professionals on an inventive project set in a supernatural motel.  By Heidi Waleson June 2, 2021 4:37 pm ET Live opera performance with in-person audiences is gradually returning, with summer festivals putting on (mostly) outdoor productions and opera companies announcing indoor seasons for the fall. This is a happy …

‘The Road We Came’ and ‘Greenwood Overcomes’ Reviews: Commemorating Black History and Artistry

Three virtual walking tours from On Site Opera explore Black music and history in New York; the Tulsa Opera pays tribute in song to the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre By Heidi Waleson May 5, 2021 5:39 pm ET New York In normal times, On Site Opera stages works in locations that relate to their …

Renée Fleming Warms a Chilly Night at the Shed

The soprano, with collaborators guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Christian McBride and pianist Dan Tepfer, tried to create a jazz-club vibe at the socially distanced Hudson Yards venue with a mix of classical and popular fare. By Heidi Waleson April 22, 2021 3:49 pm ET New York There was a live, in-person performance at The Shed at …

‘Der Freischütz’ and ‘Songs for Murdered Sisters’ Reviews: Where Relationships and Violence Meet

Carl Maria von Weber’s ‘The Marksman,’ moved to today’s corporate world; a song cycle by composer Jake Heggie and poet and novelist Margaret Atwood, performed by baritone Joshua Hopkins in response to the murder of his sister by her ex-partner. By Heidi Waleson March 3, 2021 4:45 pm ET Trying to give Carl Maria von Weber’s “Der …

‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and ‘Fidelio’ Reviews: Operas Updated for Our Times

Boston Lyric Opera fuses Philip Glass’s 1987 work with the story of a migrant child in detention; Washington National Opera releases a graphic novel version of Beethoven’s only opera. By Heidi Waleson‘ Feb. 2, 2021 2:32 pm ET James Darrah’s new film of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” available on Boston Lyric Opera’s operabox.tv, represents …