William Burnett

Dallas Opera was the setting for the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s “Moby Dick”, which may prove to be a seminal 21st century American opera.  Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” (which premiered in 2000 at the San Francisco Opera) is one of the handful of recent operatic works to have surpassed the 100 performance mark. Even so, … Read more

The fourth installment of Achim Freyer’s much discussed conceptualization of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” has premiered at the Los Angeles Opera, setting the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage for three complete cycles scheduled during May and June, 2010. An enthusiastic Los Angeles Opera audience was treated to an extraordinary and spectacular performance, whose musical leadership … Read more

Chicago’s Lyric Opera presented a strongly cast production of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” with American bass baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Figaro, Polish baritone Marius Kwiecien as Count Almaviva, Australian-American Danielle De Niese as Susanna and American mezzo Joyce DiDonato as Cherubino. Each of the comprimario roles was in good hands, led by the formidable … Read more

San Diego Opera mounted Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” for the attractive, youthful-looking husband and wife team of leggiero tenor Stephen Costello and coloratura soprano Ailyn Pérez. Both were debuting at San Diego Opera. Conductor Karen Keltner emphasized the score’s abundant lyricism. Several cuts in the opera were made. The formulaic French ballets, imposed on all … Read more

Hector Berlioz’ musical composition, “La Damnation de Faust”, never ceases to be both bewildering and beguiling. Much about it seems to belong in the opera house, but its mixture of  irresistible music and episodic subject matter has made its introduction to the operatic standard repertory as elusive as its message. Lyric Opera, which had never … Read more

The Dallas Opera presented Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” as their second offering (after Verdi’s “Otello” last fall) in their new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House. They assembled an excellent cast in the beautiful production conceived by John Cox and his collaborating set and costume designer Robert Perdziola. The production, owned by the San Francisco Opera, … Read more

There is a tendency to think of the operas written by Verdi as a genre that differs from those of the early 19th century Italian operas of the “bel canto era“. During that period, according to opera lore, the singing was florid, pretty, but dramatically vapid. In the opera goers’ understanding of the history of … Read more

The Dallas Opera mounted Donizetti’s comedy “Don Pasquale” in the venerable Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production, originally created for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. The performance provided a vehicle for the American debut of Slovakian soprano Adriana Kucerova and the Dallas debut of Italian Conductor Stefano Ranzani. Written for four world-class voices, the Dallas Opera chose … Read more

Houston Grand Opera opened the new decade with a new production of “Tosca”, with a distinguished title role debut by Patricia Racette, supported by role debuts of Russian tenor Alexey Dolgov as her lover Mario Cavaradossi and Ohio basso Raymond Aceto as her tormentor, the Baron Scarpia.  The opera was staged by John Caird, the … Read more

It’s been 112 years since Henry James’ serialized ghost story absorbed the interest of the readers of Colliers magazine. To its author’s surprise, it created a storm of controversy that has continued throughout the decades that followed the American author’s death. What evil lurks in the Bly mansion in Essex that appears to possess the … Read more

Over the past year or so, I have on various occasions presented evidence that refutes the cliche that there no longer are opera singers capable of singing the principal roles in Giuseppe Verdi’s operas. However, one concedes that, like the music dramas of Wagner, Verdi operas can add levels of complexity to the already stressful tasks … Read more

The title of Gioacchino Rossini’s most famous work, identifying the occupation of a chief character, Figaro, derives from the subversive French play by Beaumarchais that helped accelerate the national campaign against aristocratic privilege that culminated in the French Revolution. Not quite three decades later, the Revolution, including its Napoleonic aftermath, was over. Rossini prepared a … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera, whose general director Placido Domingo is arguably the world’s most dominant personality in grand opera, has become a favorite destination for many of the world’s great artists. Domingo’s casting choices show a keen eye for the best talents in the world, including those who have not yet achieved widespread recognition. Even … Read more

Placido Domingo’s Sultan Bajazet [Photo: the sultan Bajazet (Placido Domingo, center) denounces the plans of his captor Tamerlano (Bejun Mehta, upper left); edited image, based on a Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.] Placido Domingo’s 20th century career was built on a  tenor repertory encompassing an amazing breadth of lyric, spinto and dramatic … Read more