Review: Sarasota Opera’s Beautifully Performed “La Boheme”, March 6, 2020

Sarasota Opera’s 2020 winter season opened in February with a production of Puccini’s “La Boheme”, the quintessential Italian opera. I reviewed the ninth of 13 scheduled performances. Sarasota Opera’s “Boheme” was well-sung and admirably staged. Regrettably, one week after the performance, the fast-moving spread of the Covid-19 virus led the Sarasota Opera to cancel the … Read more

Review: Caitlin Crabill and Rafael Davila Lead Strong Cast for Catalani’s “La Wally” – Sarasota Opera, March 7, 2020

Sarasota Opera mounted Alfredo Catalani’s masterwork, “La Wally”, one of the core works created as part of the Italian verismo movement that began in the 1890s. Caitlin Crabill’s La Wally Like his Italian contemporaries Pietro Mascagni and Giacomo Puccini, Catalani was a disciple of the composer Richard Wagner, whose influence can be discerned in the … Read more

In Quest of German Operatic Masterpieces – September 2020 to January, 2021

I am scheduled to travel to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston to review the following operas by Ludwig von Beethoven and Richard Wagner between September 2020 and January , 2021. [The entire Fall, 2020 San Francisco Opera season was canceled due to the Covid19 pandemic.] Fidelio (Beethoven), San Francisco Opera, September 12, 15, … Read more