Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
In the fourth of six scheduled performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto”, the Los Angeles Opera introduced new cast members for the opera’s three principal roles that included two impressive company debuts. Michael Fabiano’s Duke of Mantua [Photo: Michael Fabiano as the Duke of Mantua; edited image, based on a Karen Almond photograph, courtesy of the … Read more
The following is a list of the operas that will be presented at the Spoleto USA Festival 2018 (Charleston, South Carolina) or the Glimmerglass Festival (Cooperstown, New York) that I will be reviewing for operawarhorses.com in June and July, 2018. Tree of Codes (Lim), Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, South Carolina), May 26, 29, June 1, … Read more
The following interview took place through the arrangements of the Houston Grand Opera, whose facilitation of this interview is appreciated. This is posted in coordination with the Spoleto Festival USA, where Costanzo will perform in concert. [Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo; Matthu Placek publicity photograph from IMGArtists.] Wm: We are conversing just after your performance … Read more
The following is a list of the operas by Richard Wagner that comprise “Ring of the Nibelung”, whose production by director Francesca Zambello I will be reviewing for operawarhorses.com in June, 2018. Das Rheingold (Wagner), San Francisco Opera, June 12, 18 and 26, 2018 Francesca Zambello has created evocative American-themed images for each of … Read more
The following is a list of operas by Gioacchino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti that I will be reviewing for operawarhorses.com between May and September, 2018. Pia de’ Tolomei (Donizetti), Spoleto Festival, USA (Charleston South Carolina), May 27, 31, 3(m), 6 and 8, 2018. Italian director Andrea Cigni, who staged Minnesota Opera’s May 2018’s rewarding … Read more
The Minnesota Opera presented Italian director Andrea Cigni’s beautifully conceived production of Massenet’s opera “Thaïs”. The event took place at Minnesota Opera’s home in the Saint Paul (Minnesota) Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Kelly Kaduce’s Thaïs Soprano Kelly Kaduce brought vocal beauty and dramatic intensity to the role of Thaïs, a famous, wealthy courtesan … Read more
The following interview took place in Russell Thomas’ Kennedy-Center dressing room with the much-appreciated facilitation of the Washington National Opera. [Below: Tenor Russell Thomas; edited image, based on a Fay Fox photograph, courtesy of Russell Thomas.] Wm: What are your earliest memories of music? RT: Gospel music! I grew up in a community in Miami in … Read more
In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Texas. Severe damage to the Wortham Center, the home of the Houston Grand Opera [HGO], was among the hurricane’s effects. Rather than cancel its 2017-18 opera season, HGO, working with Houston civic authorities, was able to obtain space in the mammoth George R. Brown Convention Center in which … Read more
The Houston Grand Opera (HGO)’s Resilience Theater, created for HGO opera performances in the aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, was the scene of the premiere run of Francesca Zambello’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s 1957 musical “West Side Story”. HGO (the first major American opera company ever to perform “West Side Story”) combined the talents of … Read more