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”
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo sings all the opera’s major parts in a brilliant, frenetic production on the Hudson River. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 9, 2024 at 5:42 pm ET Anthony Roth Costanzo PHOTO: NINA WESTERVELT New York “The Marriage of Figaro” is the ultimate ensemble opera, so what happens when one person sings all the parts? The …
Continue reading “‘The Marriage of Figaro’ Review: Little Island’s One-Man Mozart”
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 …
Three operas portray the trancelike state of love, from a world-premiere production exploring the intimate bond between John Singer Sargent and his male studio model to Debussy’s classic tragedy and Purcell’s intoxicating adaptation of Shakespeare. By Heidi Waleson July 22, 2024 at 5:27 pm ET Justin Austin and William Burden in ‘American Apollo.’ PHOTO: CORY …
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. 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”
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 …
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