In New York, Will Crutchfield’s company celebrated 200 years of Italian opera in America with performances of ‘Il Don Giovanni’ and ‘Il Turco in Italia’; upstate, at Caramoor, William Christie’s French ensemble and select young vocalists delivered moving renditions of two Marc-Antoine Charpentier works. By Heidi Waleson July 20, 2026 at 5:09 pm ET Kresley Figueroa …
Tag Archives: classical-music
‘Vanessa’ Review: Heartbeat Opera’s Strident Samuel Barber
The New York company offers a stark, taxing adaptation of the composer’s 1958 work, which centers on a woman waiting for her long-gone lover’s return. By Heidi Waleson May 18, 2026 at 4:28 pm ET Inna Dukach as Vanessa. RUSS ROWLAND Heartbeat Opera’s 100-minute adaptation of Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa”(1958) by company artistic director Jacob Ashworth, first presented last summer at …
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‘The Crucible’ Review: Washington National Opera’s Nimble Reset
Following its split with the Kennedy Center, the company has ably adapted to George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium, where it is presenting a gripping staging of Robert Ward’s version of the Arthur Miller classic. By Heidi Waleson March 23, 2026 at 5:01 pm ET A scene from the Washington National Opera production of ‘The Crucible.’ SCOTT SUCHMAN …
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‘Hercules’ Review: Handel’s Musical Myth at Carnegie Hall
Harry Bicket and the English Concert presented the composer’s highly theatrical but little-known 1745 oratorio in an uneven but frequently arresting performance. By Heidi Waleson March 18, 2026 at 5:22 pm ET Harry Bicket and the English Concert at Carnegie Hall. RICHARD TERMINE New York The annual Carnegie Hall visit of Harry Bicket and the English Concert, the superb …
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A Propulsive Premiere and a Thoughtful ‘Parsifal’ at San Francisco Opera
Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s ‘The Monkey King’ persuasively conjured the spirit of Chinese opera; Matthew Ozawa’s new Wagner production had admirable clarity. By Heidi Waleson Nov. 19, 2025 at 4:31 pm ET Kang Wang in ‘The Monkey King.’ CORY WEAVER/SAN FRANCISCO OPERA San Francisco Huang Ruo’s “The Monkey King,” which had its world premiere at the San …
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Run AMOC* Festival and ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ Review: Mythology and Mortality in Opera
At Lincoln Center, the American Modern Opera Company contemplates the past, present and future through strikingly different productions; at its open-air amphitheater, Little Island stages the landmark 1983 musical retelling of a Sophocles tragedy, rethinking central elements. By Heidi Waleson July 16, 2025 at 4:38 pm ET A performance of ‘Music for New Bodies’ at Lincoln …
Opera in Europe: Established but Adventurous
Recent productions in Germany and the Netherlands—of classics, curiosities and contemporary works by composers ranging from Strauss to Saariaho—powerfully exemplified the scene’s risk-taking artistic ethos. By Heidi Waleson April 7, 2025 at 4:43 pm ET The company of Offenbach’s ‘Die Schöne Helena.’ PHOTO: IKO FREESE Berlin; Dresden, Germany; Amsterdam New Yorkers who visit Berlin often feel at home—the …
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‘Salome’ and ‘Morgiane’ Review: Reinvention and Excavation
Heartbeat Opera presents a radically stripped down and re-orchestrated version of Strauss’s classic in Brooklyn; in Manhattan, Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole staged the world-premiere production of what is thought to be the oldest existing opera by a black American. By Heidi Waleson Feb. 11, 2025 at 11:45 am ET Melina Jaharis, Patrick Cook and Jeremy Harr …
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‘Aida’ Review: Glum Grandeur at the Metropolitan Opera
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 …
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‘Lucidity’ and ‘Tosca’ Review: Sopranos of Two Generations
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 …
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