Reviews, appreciation and analysis of all things opera
Current reviews of modern and classic operas from both large and small opera houses across the United States and Europe. Over 500 reviews since 2005.
The operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck have rarely been performed by the San Francisco Opera. Gluck’s most famous opera, “Orpheus and Eurydice”, received only a couple of stage performances in a 1959 production. For the company’s centennial season, San Francisco Opera presents it in its original 1762 Italian version, “Orfeo ed Euridice”, which premiered in … Read more
A review of Poulenc’s “The Dialogues of the Carmelites”, which returns to San Francisco Opera, the site of its 1957 United States premiere.
An operawarhorses.com review of an admirable San Francisco Opera performance of Robert Carsen’s “world treasure” production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”..
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John Adams’ latest opera, whose plot is derived from the Shakesperean tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, received its world premiere at the San Francisco Opera. A run of six additional performances was scheduled to follow the world premiere. This review is of the third of the seven total performances. There is much to admire in San … Read more
The Santa Fe Opera revived Rossini’s most popular opera, “The Barber of Seville”, after its 17-year absence from the company, in a brilliant new production by Australian-born British director Stephen Barlow. First performed in 2016 at Britain’s Grange Festival in Hampshire (near Winchester), the production mixes 18th century fashions with abundant references to studiously anachronisitic … Read more