Review: Jamie Barton and Ryan McKinny Excel in 25th Anniversary Revival of Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” – San Francisco Opera, September 14, 2025

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On the 25fh anniversary of its San Francisco Opera world premiere, Jake Heggie’s opera “Dead Man Walking” was presented again. The conductor of the world premiere, Maestro Patrick Summers returned for the anniversary revival, as did mezzo-soprano Susan Graham who created the role of Sister Prejean in the first performances. In the revival, she assumed … Read more

Review: Immensely Satisfying “Rigoletto” Performance Led by Amartuvshin Enkhbat and Adela Zaharia – San Francisco Opera, September 13, 2025

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The San Francisco Opera’s music director, South Korean Maestra Eun Sun Kim, has committed to conducting one Verdi and one Wagner opera each San Francisco Opera season. This provides the company with an opportunity to give special attention to works of the two 19th century operatic geniuses. Verdi’s mid-19th century opera “Rigoletto” is the third … Read more

An Elegant Production for Britten’s Ghostly “Turn of the Screw” – Santa Fe Opera, August 1, 2025

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This review is of the third of four scheduled Santa Fe Opera performances of a Garsington Opera production of Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” (now owned by the Canadian Opera Company). Jacquelyn Stucker’s Governess [Photo: Jacquelyn Stucker as the Governess; edited image, based on a Curtis Brown photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.] … Read more

Review: A Well-Sung “Rigoletto”, starring Michael Chioldi, Elena Villalón and Duke Kim – Santa Fe Opera, July 29, 2025

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This review is of the fourth of seven Santa Fe Opera 2025 performances of the Julien Chavaz production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto”, a co-production with Irish National Opera (Dublin, Ireland) and Oper Zuid (Maastricht, Netherlands) Michael Chioldi’s Rigoletto [Phoro: Rigoletto (Michael Chioldi, center) is surrounded by the Duke of Mantua’s courtiers; edited image, based on a … Read more

Review: Ailyn Perez Joins Santa Fe Opera’s Excellent “Le Nozze di Figaro” Cast – July 31, 2025

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The Santa Fe Opera revived Laurent Pelly’s 2021 production of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”. This review is of the fourth of nine performances of Mozart’s opera scheduled for the 2025 season. Ailyn Pérez’ Countess Almaviva [Photo:: Ailyn Pérez as the Countess Almaviva; edited image of a Ken Howard photograph for the Metropolitan Opera, courtesy … Read more