These reviews first appeared in The Quarterly of the Lute Society of America in significantly altered form. La Suave Melodia, Performance Practice in Italy 1600-1660, Ensemble Badinerie, Rahel Stoellger, flauto dolce, William Dongois. Cornetto, 68’09, 21 tracks, Accent Plus ACC10401, Recorded 2000, released 2010 Arguably, modern western musical harmony was born in and around the …
Continue reading “La Serenissima – Italian Music for Lute (and others)”
‘Ruinous Gods’ struggles to find musical or narrative coherence in its depiction of the toll forced migration takes on children; Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson’s ‘The Song of Rome’ offers a sophisticated modern spin on Virgil’s ‘Aeneid. By Heidi Waleson May 29, 2024 at 3:11 pm ET Karim Sulayman PHOTO: WILLIAM STRUHS Charleston, S.C. In the past, …
Continue reading “Spoleto Festival USA Review: Timely Opera and Ancient Drama”
These reviews first appeared in The Quarterly of the Lute Society of America in significantly altered form. John Dowland (1563-1636) is indisputably the premier composer for the lute. He led a peripatetic life around Europe, including a decade in Denmark as the court lutenist, which brought a cosmopolitan experience to his composing. He was a …
Washington National Opera performed a world premiere production of Puccini’s work with a new final scene by Susan Soon He Stanton and Christopher Tin; at Park Avenue Armory, Peter Sellars directed a program of Bach cantatas and African-American spirituals presented as a call to action against climate change. By Heidi Waleson May 22, 2024 at …
Continue reading “‘Turandot’ and ‘Shall We Gather at the River’ Reviews: Classics in New Contexts”
With music by Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Hwang, an opera at New York’s Perelman Performing Arts Center about a viciously bullied Army private proved taut and haunting; uptown, Opera Lafayette’s production of Jean-Joseph Mouret’s 1714 work was a skillful, snappy delight. By: Heidi Waleson May 14, 2024 Brian Vu and Alex DeSocio …
John Adams’s oratorio, which draws on a diverse set of texts to tell the biblical story, receives a joyful production at the Metropolitan Opera; at NYU’s Skirball Center, Catapult Opera presented the U.S. premiere of a work by the eminent 20th-century composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. By Heidi Waleson April 25, 2024 at 7:00 pm ET Julia …
The company, celebrating its 10th anniversary season, offers a contemporary spin on Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ and the world premiere of Dan Schlosberg’s eco-themed ‘The Extinctionist.’ By Heidi Waleson April 8, 2024 at 5:04 pm ET The company of ‘Eugene Onegin’ in the Heartbeat Opera production. PHOTO: RUSS ROWLAND New York Heartbeat Opera, now presenting its 10th anniversary season at …
Continue reading “Heartbeat Opera: Productions Grounded in the Present”
The composer’s operetta ‘La Périchole’ gets a smartly trimmed adaptation set during the Prohibition and starring Isabel Leonard and Ramin Karimloo at Washington National Opera. By Heidi Waleson March 20, 2024 at 2:08 pm ET Isabel Leonard and Ramin Karimloo PHOTO: SCOTT SUCHMAN Washington “Songbird,” the adaptation of Offenbach’s operetta “La Périchole” now playing at the …
Continue reading “‘Songbird’ Review: Making Offenbach Swing in Washington”
Detroit Opera presents two of the avant-garde composer’s rigidly devised but cacophonous works, jumbling together various arias and piano works from music history into a disorienting whole. By Heidi Waleson March 12, 2024 Kisma Jordan PHOTO: AUSTIN RICHEY Detroit What happens when you put classic European operas into a Mixmaster on stage? You get John Cage’s cycle …
Continue reading “‘Europeras 3 & 4’ Review: John Cage’s Controlled Chaos”
Mariusz Treliński’s new production of Verdi’s revenge drama moves the action to a war-torn present and stars the shining Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen. By Heidi Walseon ) Soloman Howard and Lise Davidsen. PHOTO: KAREN ALMOND / MET OPERA New York Mariusz Treliński’s new production of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” which opened at the Metropolitan Opera on …
Continue reading “‘La Forza del Destino’ Review: A Light in the Darkness at the Metropolitan Opera”
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