This year’s edition of the festival opened with a compelling rock-influenced opera, based on Dana Spiotta’s novel about two 1970s radicals who go underground after a protest bombing goes awry. By Heidi Waleson Jan. 13, 2025 at 5:04 pm ET The cast of ‘Eat the Document.’ PHOTO: MARIA BARANOVA New York According to its co-founder and co-artistic director …
Continue reading “‘Eat the Document’ Review: The Prototype Festival’s Musical Fugitives”
Starring Angel Blue and Piotr Beczała, Michael Mayer’s new staging of Verdi’s Egyptian classic favors monumentality at nearly every turn, but it struggles to come to fiery dramatic or musical life. By Heidi Waleson Jan. 2, 2025 at 5:19 pm ET Angel Blue PHOTO: KEN HOWARD / MET OPERA New York You know you’re in trouble when a …
Continue reading “‘Aida’ Review: Glum Grandeur at the Metropolitan Opera”
Lucy Shelton plays a renowned singer with dementia in Laura Kaminsky’s chamber piece at On Site Opera; Lise Davidsen stars in Puccini’s melodrama at the Met. By Heidi Waleson Nov. 18, 2024 at 5:07 pm ET Lucy Shelton in ‘Lucidity.’ PHOTO: DAN WRIGHT New York Like “As One” (2014), her much-performed first opera, Laura Kaminsky’s “Lucidity,” given its world …
Continue reading “‘Lucidity’ and ‘Tosca’ Review: Sopranos of Two Generations”
Osvaldo Golijov’s work about the murder of the Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca in 1936 tells its haunting story with ferociously contemporary musical style. By Heidi Waleson Oct. 17, 2024 at 5:39 pm ET Daniela Mack PHOTO: MARTY SOHL / MET OPERA Operagoers who think that Bizet’s “Carmen” is Spanish should be sure to catch Osvaldo Golijov’s …
Continue reading “‘Ainadamar’ Review: Fascism and Flamenco at the Met Opera”
At the Metropolitan Opera, Jeanine Tesori’s work about an American drone pilot proves eerie and emotionally resonant; Meredith Monk’s performance piece at Park Avenue Armory takes inspiration from Asian religions to affirm our interconnectedness. By Heidi Waleson Oct. 7, 2024 at 5:21 pm ET Emily D’Angelo (center) and company in ‘Grounded.’ PHOTO: KEN HOWARD / MET OPERA …
Continue reading “‘Grounded’ and ‘Indra’s Net’ Reviews: Modern War and Ancient Legend”
In Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s work at Opera Philadelphia, a group of people all suffer from hearing a mysterious hum; at National Sawdust, Paola Prestini and Mr. Vavrek’s adaptation of a 2007 film immersed the audience in the daily routines of Mennonites in Mexico. By Heidi Waleson Oct. 2, 2024 at 2:47 pm ET Kevin …
Continue reading “‘The Listeners’ and ‘Silent Light’ Review: A Cult and a Community”
September 2024
An American opera director reveals how to inject new life into an old-fashioned artform. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 13, 2024 at 11:27 am ET A scene from Yuval Sharon’s staging of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ at the Berlin State Opera in 2019. PHOTO: MONICA RITTERSHAUS Opera is perceived as the most traditional of the performing arts—its repertory …
Continue reading “‘A New Philosophy of Opera’ Review: Curtain Calls”
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo sings all the opera’s major parts in a brilliant, frenetic production on the Hudson River. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 9, 2024 at 5:42 pm ET Anthony Roth Costanzo PHOTO: NINA WESTERVELT New York “The Marriage of Figaro” is the ultimate ensemble opera, so what happens when one person sings all the parts? The …
Continue reading “‘The Marriage of Figaro’ Review: Little Island’s One-Man Mozart”
Nymphs, pirates and a wizard feature in this year’s edition of the festival in upstate New York, which offers a balanced rendition of ‘La Calisto,’ a vibrant production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and a premiere of the youth opera ‘Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.’ By Heidi Waleson Aug. 14, 2024 at 4:52 pm ET Tshilidzi …
Continue reading “Glimmerglass Festival Review: Between History and Fantasy”
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