Reviews

This is the second of two discussions of DVDs of productions of classic American musicals performed by the San Francisco Opera, following DVD Review: Francesca Zambello, the American Musical and the San Francisco Opera, Part I: “Show Boat”. Each DVD is of a production conceived and staged by director Francesca Zambello.\ David Gockley, San Francisco Opera’s … Read more

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

Sarasota Opera’s 2020 winter season included Donizetti’s 1832 operatic comedy, “The Elixir of Love (L’Elisir d’Amore)”, presented in an attractive production with a strong cast.

The Sarasota Opera mounted an attractive and dramatically satisfying production of Charles Gounod’s melodious opera “Roméo et Juliette”, inspired by Shakespeare’s romantic play.

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

The Los Angeles Opera mounted Donizetti’s operatic masterpiece “Roberto Devereux” about the aging Queen Elizabeth I’s romantic entanglement with the dangerously impetuous Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux. A few days before the first performance, Canary Islands soprano Davinia Rodriguez, who was to sing the role of Elizabeth I, became ill and withdrew from the performance … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera joined the New York Metropolitan Opera in commissioning a new opera, “Eurydice”, based on a play by poet-dramatist Sarah Ruhl. The opera’s music was composed by the Los Angeles Opera’s resident artist, Maestro Matthew Aucoin. Danielle De Niese as Eurydice Australian mezzo-soprano Danielle De Niese led a stellar group of artists … Read more

The Houston Grand Opera presented “La Favorite” in its original French, as a vehicle for Georgia mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton. Donizetti’s 1840 masterpiece “La Favorite” was one of the mid-19th century vehicles for operatic superstars to display their vocal prowess. Jamie Barton’s Léonor The opera proved a triumph for Jamie Barton, singing the role of Léonor … Read more

For the Seattle Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” two pairs of artists sing the lead roles of Eugene Onegin and Tatyana, alternating performances. This review of the second performance supplements my remarks contained in Review: Seattle Opera’s Melodious “Eugene Onegin” led by John Moore and Marjukka Tepponen, January 11, 2020. Michael Adams’ Eugene Onegin … Read more

The Seattle Opera presented Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” in an attractive production by Tomer Zvulun. For the eight scheduled performances, the two principal roles, Onegin and Tatyana, alternate between two pairs of artists, with the remaining roles to be performed by the same artists throughout the run. I attended both the first and second performances, for … Read more

Six years ago I reviewed the Los Angeles Opera’s first performance of Barrie Kosky’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” [Outrageously Inventive, Unceasingly Entertaining – Kosky/Andrade /Barritt’s Silent Movie “Magic Flute” Wows L. A. – Los Angeles Opera, November 23, 2013]. As before, the spoken dialogue is cut and the arias and recitativo accompagnato passages … Read more

Even though all of the season’s performances of “Manon Lescaut” have taken place, it was an unambiguously successful run of a deserving opera. It was a confirmation of the high quality performances one can expect from the San Francisco Opera. There is melodramatic power in a Puccini leitmotiv performed fortissimo by the San Francisco Opera … Read more

San Francisco Opera has enlisted a vocally and dramatially impressive cast for German composer Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel”. The expanded 65-member San Francisco Opera Orchestra resounded elegantly in the War Memorial Opera House. This a “must-see” holiday experience, sung in an enchanting English translation. Sasha Cooke’s Hansel and Heidi Stober’s Gretel Texas mezzo-soprano Sasha … Read more

In the early 18th century the Abbe Prevost published a scandalous story of a privileged young woman who is torn by the dual desires for passionate love (with the relatively poor Chevalier des Grieux) and worldly riches (with the wealthy Geronte). Puccini’s opera, based on Prevost’s famous work, is a stark morality play, in which … Read more

Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed production of Handel’s “Saul”, first seen in England’s 2015 Glyndebourne Festival, was presented by the Houston Grand Opera. Kosky mounted a powerful psychological drama. Charles Jennens’ libretto for “Saul” – composed in the late 1730s – was concerned as much with contemporary religious controversies as the Biblical stories about the youthful David … Read more

The San Francisco Opera has unveiled the first part of a trilogy of new opera productions for the three Mozart operas of which Lorenzo da Ponte was librettist. The first of these productions, “The Marriage of Figaro” introduces two of the themes that underlie the three productions. The first of these themes is that all … Read more

“The Abduction from the Seraglio”, one of Mozart’s seven major operas, is the most problematic to stage. Composed for the “Enlightened Monarch” Austria’s Emperor Joseph II, the tale of European women kidnapped and sold into slavery to a Turkish pasha contains minefields for directors wishing not to offend 21st century sensibilities. Alison Moritz’ Production Director … Read more

Exactly a century after Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev finished his score for the fantasy opera “Love for Three Oranges”, Opera Philadelphia presented it in Alessandro Talevi’s production, first seen in Florence Italy’s Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Opera Philadelphia presented the opera in English, assembling an English-speaking cast, all but one of whom are American. Jonathan Johnson’s … Read more

Opera Philadelphia, mounting Handel’s opera “Semele”, assembled a superb cast of principals led by Amanda Forsythe, Daniela Mack and Alek Shrader. The principal singers were supported by a large chorus, a team of dancers and an orchestra able to do justice to Handel’s hauntingly beautiful baroque harmonies. Handel wrote technically difficult, richly melodic vocal lines … Read more

The Los Angeles Opera’s 2019-20 season opened with Barrie Kosky’s production of Puccini’s “La Boheme”, imported from Berlin’s Komische Oper. Saimir Pirgu’s Rodolfo and Marina Costa-Jackson’s Mimi The opening night performance was the occasion of the return of Albanian lyric tenor Saimir Pirgu to the Los Angeles Opera, the site of his 2008 American operatic … Read more

Britten’s “Billy Budd” returned to the San Francisco Opera repertory after a 15 year absence., utilizing Michael Grandage’s spectacular production. The production represents the three-levels of the 18th century warship HMS Indomitable. Strong performances in the opera’s three principal roles and a taut musical performance by the cast, San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus under … Read more

San Francisco Opera opened its 97th season with Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette”. The evening was a resounding success. The principal artists, supporting cast, orchestra and chorus superbly performed in Jean-Louis Grinda’s tautly-directed production, Pene Pati’s Roméo New Zealand tenor Pene Pati, of Samoan birth and heritage, was originally scheduled for the last of the seven … Read more

California composer Jake Heggie, in collaboration with librettist Gene Scheer, has composed another richly melodic, major new work. The new opera,”If I Were You” was created for the impressive voices and imposing talents of the young artists of the Merola Opera Program, that is associated with the San Francisco Opera. A dramatically satisfying, through-composed opera, … Read more

The Santa Fe Opera has announced three consecutive years of opera world premieres for the company’s 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons. 2019’s new opera, Poul Ruders’ “The Thirteenth Child”, is based on the Brother Grimm’s Fairy Tale “The Twelve Brothers”. David Leigh’s King Hjarne, Tamara Mumford’s Gertrude and Bradley Garvin’s Drokan In “The Thirteenth Child” … Read more

A stellar sextet of operatic artists presented a beautifully sung performance of Mozart’s “relationship” opera “Cosi fan Tutte”. Deconstructing “Cosi fan Tutte” New York stage director R.B. Schlather conceived a production intended to bypass what many regard as the inherent absurdities of Lorenzo da Ponte’s libretto to delve deep into the subconscious motivations of the … Read more