In this year’s festival, Monteverdi’s myth about lost lovers in the underworld takes the stage; Debussy’s Symbolist story finds orchestral triumph; Dvořák’s fairy tale takes a Freudian turn; and more. By Heidi Waleson Aug. 8, 2023 at 5:42 pm ET Luke Harnish, Rolando Villazón, Lauren Snouffer, Luke Elmer and Le Bu PHOTO: CURTIS BROWN Santa Fe, N.M. …
Author Archives: Andy Manshel
‘Poliuto,’ ‘Crispino e la Comare’ and ‘Henri VIII’ Reviews: Overlooked Operas, Revisited
At Lincoln Center, Teatro Nuovo presents two bel canto works—one, by Donizetti, featuring Christian martyrs and the other, by Federico and Luigi Ricci, a fairy godmother; upstate, a Bard SummerScape production of Camille Saint-Saëns’s historical drama captures a king’s tyranny. By Heidi Waleson July 24, 2023 at 5:52 pm ET Ricardo José Rivera and Chelsea …
‘Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower’ Review: Lost in Operatic Translation
At Lincoln Center, Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s adaptation of the sci-fi novel about a teenager in a crumbling world turns an arresting book into a tedious cross between a song cycle and a harangue. By Heidi Waleson July 19, 2023 at 4:58 pm ET Marie Tattie Aqeel and the company of ‘Octavia E. …
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‘Treemonisha,’ ‘Susannah’ and ‘Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra’ Reviews: Fatal Love and Outcasts’ Arias
The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis reworks Scott Joplin’s creation and presents Carlisle Floyd’s classic about a community’s outsiders, while Haymarket’s production of Johann Adolph Hasse’s tragedy preserves its gender-bent precedent. By Heidi Waleson June 27, 2023 6:25 pm ET Brandie Inez Sutton and the chorus of ‘Treemonisha’ PHOTO: ERIC WOOLSEY Webster Groves, Mo. Current interest …
‘Dido and Aeneas’ Review: Roman Tragedy in Barcelona
Henry Purcell’s moving Baroque opera features William Christie with Les Arts Florissants in a production at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, directed and choreographed by Blanca Li, that is both stylish and sometimes confusing. By Heidi Waleson June 20, 2023 5:13 pm ET Ana Vieira Leite, Kate Lindsey and Renato Dolcini, with a dancer in the …
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‘Die Zauberflöte’ Review: The Met Humanizes Mozart’s Fantasy
Simon McBurney’s production of “The Magic Flute” at the Metropolitan Opera is an unusually nuanced yet still playful rendition of the fairy tale. By Heidi Waleson May 22, 2023 6:51 pm ET Lawrence Brownlee and Erin Morley PHOTO: KAREN ALMOND / MET OPERA New York Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” (“The Magic Flute”) is often staged as a fun …
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‘Don Giovanni’ Review: Ivo van Hove’s Grim Mozart at the Met
The director makes his Metropolitan Opera debut with a bleak, powerful production of the 18th-century classic. By Heidi Waleson May 8, 2023 6:03 pm ET Peter Mattei and Adam Plachetka PHOTO: KAREN ALMOND / MET OPERA New York This final month of the Metropolitan Opera season features two Mozart production premieres with some high-profile debuts. On Friday, …
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‘Das Rheingold’ Review: Atlanta Opera Steps Into the ‘Ring’
Directed by Tomer Zvulun, the company’s production of Wagner’s epic lacked a strong overarching concept; in New York, British tenor Allan Clayton delivered a stirring recital at the Park Avenue Armory. By Heidi Waleson May 3, 2023 3:42 pm ET Joseph Barron in ‘Das Rheingold’ PHOTO: KEN HOWARD Atlanta In his 10 years as general and artistic director …
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‘Lady M’ and ‘Tosca’ Review: Verdi and Puccini Imagined Anew
Heartbeat Opera gives ‘Macbeth’ a spare, putatively feminist reinterpretation and stages ‘Tosca’ as a production put on in a fundamentalist theocracy By Heidi Waleson April 18, 2023 6:02 pm ET Lisa Algozzini Photo: Russ Rowland Heartbeat Opera, which specializes in rethinking classic titles for contemporary audiences, opened its first fully staged new productions in 3 1/2 years at …
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‘Champion’ Review: Terence Blanchard Comes Back to the Met
The composer’s second opera at the New York institution is a visceral, jazz-influenced work about the closeted bisexual boxer Emile Griffith, who killed his opponent in a 1962 fight. Ryan Speedo Green PHOTO: KEN HOWARD / MET OPERA By Heidi Waleson April 12, 2023 5:55 pm ET New York After its huge success with the New York …
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