Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
The Quests and Anticipations operas listed below each are of more than routine interest because of the rarity of performances, the excellence of the casts, the new productions being created, or some combination of all these factors. Faust (Gounod), Houston Grand Opera, October 28, 30(m), November 5, 8 and 11. 2016 The vintage Francesca Zambello production of … Read more
The following conversation took place in part at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House and in part at the 2016 Glimmerglass Festival with the much-appreciated facilitation of the San Francisco Opera and Glimmerglass Festival. It is posted in coordination with Brian Mulligan’s appearances at the 2016 Glimmerglass Festival as John Proctor in Ward’s “The Crucible”. … Read more
The Glimmerglass Festival revived a once popular, now rarely performed Rossini Opera, “La Gazza Ladra” or “The Thieving Magpie”. Meg Gillentine’s Magpie In Peter Kazaras’ new production for the Glimmerglass Festival, in which each character’s costume suggested a different species of birdlife, the non-singing role of the Magpie was danced by Meg Gillentine. [Below: Dancer Meg … Read more
The Glimmerglass Festival presented a new E. Lorne Meeker production of Puccini’s perennial operatic favorite, “La Boheme”, this season. Even though an impressive 13 performances were scheduled, a 14th had to be added in response to the demand for tickets. With the exception of casting of veteran Dale Travis (who was a young artist in San Francisco … Read more
The Glimmerglass Festival presented a superb new production of Robert Ward’s 1961 opera, “The Crucible”, under the musical direction of French conductor Nicole Paiement, staged by New York director Francesca Zambello, with sets by Welsh designer Neil Patel and costumes by Washington state designer Jessica Jahn. The opera is based on Arthur Miller’s 1953 play. Miller … Read more