At Little Island, the life and repertoire of the controversial singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson were explored in a new work performed by Mr. Tines and conceived by the bass-baritone and director Zack Winokur. By Heidi Waleson July 1, 2024 at 5:30 pm ET Khari Lucas and Davóne Tines. PHOTO: PHOTO: JULIETA CERVANTES New York Little …
Continue reading “‘Robeson’ Review: Davóne Tines as the Tortured Hero”
The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis presents a 2002 chamber work by Philip Glass, along with trimmed and translated Handel and Puccini stagings with a modern feel. By Heidi Waleson June 24, 2024 at 5:19 pm ET Vanessa Becerra and Sean Michael Plumb in ‘Galileo.’ PHOTO: ERIC WOOLSEY Webster Groves, Mo. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis makes …
Yuval Sharon melds a modern work with Monteverdi in a staging at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; at the San Francisco Opera, Kaija Saariaho’s final opera is a both timely and timeless meditation on our capacity for evil. By Heidi Waleson June 18, 2024 at 5:19 pm ET A scene from ‘Innocence’ at …
These reviews first appeared in The Quarterly of the Lute Society of America in significantly altered form. The modern guitar dominates the commercial music we hear in the west. Since the time of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, bands made up of fretted instruments and percussion have become the convention in popular music. The tradition …
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 …
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