Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
The Fort Worth Opera chose to celebrate the opening of its 70th season by commissioning a new opera, with music composed by David T. Little to a libretto by his frequent collaborator Royce Vavrek. The opera’s commission was intended to commemorate President John F. Kennedy’s early morning hotel stay and campaign breakfast in Fort Worth in the hours before his … Read more
The Houston Grand Opera mounted Broadway director Rob Ashford’s production of Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s dark classic “Carousel” with an appealing cast of opera singers, led by Australian baritone Duncan Rock and American soprano Angela Carroll. [Below: Julie Jordan (Angela Carroll, left) stands by her man, Billy Bigelow (Duncan Rock, right) on a Maine coastal sea wall; … Read more
The Houston Grand Opera (HGO) assembled a strong cast for “Siegfried”, its third entry in its mounting (over four seasons) of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” in an imaginative, often visually dizzying production from Spain’s Fura dels Baus. Jay Hunter Morris’ Siegfried Siegfried is a role that dominates all three acts of the opera, requiring power and … Read more
Later this Spring, I begin another Self-Directed Opera Live Performance Tour (this trip with eight performances in 16 days). The last four performances are described below: Carmen (Bizet), Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, Germany, May 13, 17 and 20, 2016. The fifth stop on my Self-Directed Live Opera Performance Tour will be the famous Lina Wertmüller production of … Read more
Later this Spring, I begin another Self-Directed Opera Live Performance Tour (this trip with eight performances in 16 days). The first four of these are described below: Rigoletto (Verdi), L’Opéra National de Paris, April 9, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 27, 30, May 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 16, 20, 21, 24, 27 and … Read more