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”
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”
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”
At Bard SummerScape and Lincoln Center, three operas depict fiery conflicts and family feuds, from a Reformation-era religious rebellion to a timeless tale of ill-fated lovers. By Heidi Waleson July 30, 2024 at 4:58 pm ET Jennifer Feinstein and Robert Watson in ‘Le Prophète.’ PHOTO: ANDY HENDERSON Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. This season’s opera rarity at Bard SummerScape is Giacomo …
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 …
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