Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in a potent production of Verdi’s classic. By Heidi Waleson Sept. 24, 2026 at 4:29 pm ET Lise Davidsen and Quinn Kelsey MARTY SOHL / MET OPERA New York Verdi’s “Macbeth” (1847, revised 1865) is a ferocious work, and the riveting new production by director Louisa Proske that opened the Metropolitan Opera season on Tuesday …
Tag Archives: reviews
‘Ainadamar’ Review: Fascism and Flamenco at the Met Opera
Osvaldo Golijov’s work about the murder of the Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca in 1936 tells its haunting story with ferociously contemporary musical style. By Heidi Waleson Oct. 17, 2024 at 5:39 pm ET Daniela Mack PHOTO: MARTY SOHL / MET OPERA Operagoers who think that Bizet’s “Carmen” is Spanish should be sure to catch Osvaldo Golijov’s …
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‘The Listeners’ and ‘Silent Light’ Review: A Cult and a Community
In Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s work at Opera Philadelphia, a group of people all suffer from hearing a mysterious hum; at National Sawdust, Paola Prestini and Mr. Vavrek’s adaptation of a 2007 film immersed the audience in the daily routines of Mennonites in Mexico. By Heidi Waleson Oct. 2, 2024 at 2:47 pm ET Kevin …
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THE GUITAR RULES
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 …
SEMPER DOWLAND
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 …
‘Songbird’ Review: Making Offenbach Swing in Washington
The composer’s operetta ‘La Périchole’ gets a smartly trimmed adaptation set during the Prohibition and starring Isabel Leonard and Ramin Karimloo at Washington National Opera. By Heidi Waleson March 20, 2024 at 2:08 pm ET Isabel Leonard and Ramin Karimloo PHOTO: SCOTT SUCHMAN Washington “Songbird,” the adaptation of Offenbach’s operetta “La Périchole” now playing at the …
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‘Carmen’ Review: A Misguided Modernization at the Met
Carrie Cracknell’s production, which had its premiere on New Year’s Eve, sets the opera in the present-day U.S. while offering few fresh insights into Bizet’s classic By Heidi Waleson Rafael Davila and Aigul Akhmetshina PHOTO: KEN HOWARD / MET OPERA New York Director Carrie Cracknell, who made her Metropolitan Opera debut with a new production of Bizet’s …
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