Recently in Reviews
17 May 2006
In the modern performance of seventeenth-century French music, the ensemble Les Arts Florissants holds a special place, both for its longevity and the striking stylistic fluency it brings to performances — performances that have come to define our very sense of French Baroque style. »
16 May 2006
Dans un parfum de roses (“Within the scent of roses”), is the fourth and final volume of the Complete Songs of Gabriel Fauré issued by Hyperion. »
16 May 2006
All is right and good in the world of opera as long as the Arena di Verona puts on vivid productions, in questionable taste, with impassioned singers pouring out the volume, in questionable taste, and the audience roaring its approval - in questionable taste. »
16 May 2006
Here is another handsome production of an early Rossini one-act comedy from the Schwetzingen festival, held at the charming and tiny Rokoko theater in May 1990. »
16 May 2006
In recent years the Sixth Symphony of Gustav Mahler has gained some prominence with the declaration by the internationale Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft about the only correct order of the internal movements, a position that has inspired some discussion among enthusiasts. »
16 May 2006
The booklet somewhat proudly tells us that “a modern Italian opera-going public would likely walk out in horror if confronted with the avant-garde productions of many German opera houses. »
15 May 2006
Frank Sinatra had Reprise. The Beatles had Apple. Madonna has Maverick. And Edita Gruberova has Nightingale. »
11 May 2006
Joe Dubiel is a well known and accomplished music theorist, affable, pleasant in demeanor, learned and astute, and above all friendly in a field that has its thorns and brambles. »
09 May 2006
What happened to Italo Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re? After the opera’s triumphant premiere at La Scala in 1913, Montemezzi was vaulted into the international limelight, and his creation enjoyed regular performances throughout the world until his death in 1952. »
02 May 2006
A recent newspaper report — the sort of item conveyed in a short paragraph and relegated to a column of such brief pieces — summarized a study that argues that Mozart did not die a pauper, but actually had a fairly steady stream of income. »
02 May 2006
Brigid Brophy (1929-1995) was a noted novelist and critic who was passionately interested in opera, and especially Mozart and his operas. »
02 May 2006
Passion for music is hardly rare, but it is welcome to hear it espoused in public, especially by some of the art’s strongest proponents. »
29 Apr 2006
On 26 April, The Juilliard Opera Center gave the world premiere of Miss Lonelyhearts by Lowell Liebermann. Commissioned by the Centennial Commission of The Juilliard School with the support of the Trust of Francis Goelet, the production of Miss Lonelyhearts “has been developed cooperatively among The Juilliard School, the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati.” Here are two reviews. »
29 Apr 2006
This wonderful CD was recorded in the magnificent church of Notre Dame, Rozay-en-Brie, which is 30 miles east of Paris, and contains one of the better-preserved French organs of the seventeenth century, actually played by Francois Couperin during his lifetime. »
29 Apr 2006
In recent years a number of the number of recordings of Mahler’s works have become available on DVD. »
29 Apr 2006
Why would anyone want to replace his LP-version on MRF? Because his records are scratched and it is too much trouble to put everything on CD. »
27 Apr 2006
When these recordings first appeared during the mid-sixties, there was some eye batting. Why did Deutsche Grammophon bring these recordings on the market? »
24 Apr 2006
Tosca "is based on a play by Sardou, which was written for the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. Sardou crafted melodrama rather well, and Puccini’s librettists distilled the play’s main attributes of action, sex, love, lust, politics, art and religion into one of the most popular operas of the verismo style." Tosca is now playing at the Met with Deborah Voigt in the title role. Here are two reviews. »
22 Apr 2006
Bach’s famed career as an organist, his prolific output of church cantatas, and his personal piety, all conspire to keep the image of the churchly Bach front and center in the modern mind, despite the enduring familiarity and popularity of Brandenburg concertos, sonatas, and suites. »
22 Apr 2006
For those without much time to read reviews, I can be extremely brief: hurry and buy this DVD. For all the others: the same advise though maybe they want to know the reasons for such a purchase. »
22 Apr 2006
Calixto Bieito has made his name as an opera director with productions of unrelenting violence and sex, perhaps exemplified by last year's Abduction from the Seraglio in Berlin with its full nudity and graphic mutilations. »
20 Apr 2006
Enescu's Oedipe has always been a rarity outside his native Romania. »
20 Apr 2006
Last year was the 60th anniversary of Mascagni’s death. When I wrote a big commemoration article for a Dutch operatic magazine, I wondered if we would ever hear a full version of the 18-year old Mascagni’s first work: a cantata called “in the weaving mill.” »
20 Apr 2006
Even if this recording were a failure (which it isn't), it is indispensable on account of its inclusion of about 90 seconds of music not present in the only other studio recording. »
20 Apr 2006
After happily scanning the rarity-filled repertoire on this disc, and considering the unusual program order, with sets of songs by Enescu, Chausson, and Debussy alternating with sets by saloniste Reynaldo Hahn, I visualize this recital as an exquisite hour in Hahn’s salon, with three guest composers present, exchanging ideas with their host. »
20 Apr 2006
Albert Lortzing has suffered much lately. Artistically speaking, he is somewhat moribund. In a recent article in the German operatic magazine, Orpheus, one writer rightfully complained that the once so popular composer has almost disappeared from the German theatres. »
19 Apr 2006
Only a few seconds after watching this DVD I was reminded of one of the great marketing failures in records. More than forty years ago, RCA brought out several glorious LP’s of young Gigli’s records and they put photographs of the sixty-five year old tenor on the sleeve. »
19 Apr 2006
In connection with the joint project by Thomas Hampson and the U.S. Library of Congress to present events about American song and other creativity at venues as varied as Kansas City, Fort Worth, and Carnegie Hall, EMI Classics has released this CD containing tracks from three earlier discs featuring Thomas Hampson. »
18 Apr 2006
I fear this is a CD strictly reserved for fans of both singers or for collectors of Christmas albums by classical singers. »
18 Apr 2006
In March the Glyndebourne Opera production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight played at the 2006 Adelaide Festival. Barely a week later a second Glyndebourne production presented by Opera Australia opened at the Sydney Opera House with further performances in Melbourne at the State Theatre. »
18 Apr 2006
This season, the New York City Opera presents Handel's Acis and Galatea. "When it comes to Handel, he not only lives but thrives at City Opera. Here Ovid’s Metamorphoses is both the source and the inspiration for Acis and Galatea, one of Handel’s most elegant and sensual works." Here are two reviews. »
18 Apr 2006
A few years ago I picked up a buzz among those close to the Seattle Opera Young Artists’ Program that there would be a truly remarkable young tenor in the program’s production of La Cenerentola that year. »
13 Apr 2006
On 11 April 2006, Andreas Scholl appeared at Zankel Hall, one of the performance venues in New York's famous Carnegie Hall. According to Carnegie Hall: "On this program, we span a wonderfully diverse variety of music from a variety of places, sung by one of the world’s leading countertenors. »
10 Apr 2006
Holding “The Rose, the Lily & the Whortleberry” in my hands, I pondered for a moment whether it belonged on my bookshelf or in the CD cabinet. »
10 Apr 2006
This 2001 Vienna State Opera production of Verdi’s first smash hit, Nabucco, serves as a textbook example of the “modern dress” production style, for better or worse – and probably, for both. »
07 Apr 2006
No exact date is given for this performance and there is good reason for
it. The sleeve notes clearly state that baritone Enzo Sordello (of the 15
minutes of world fame when the Met fired him for clinging to a high note
longer than Callas) sings the role of Silvio. »
04 Apr 2006
“A jewel box of a theater”: that great cliché of the opera world comes to mind when viewing a production from the Schwetzinger Festspiele held at the Rokokotheater Schwetzingen. »
04 Apr 2006
The British mezzo, Alice Coote, will make her Met Opera debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro later this month. On the first of April, she gave a recital of Mahler and Schubert lieder, accompanied by Julius Drake. Here are two reviews. »
03 Apr 2006
It’s always interesting when one’s own opinion about a work varies violently from others’ views, even if they are to date minimal in number. In this case, it is not the music per se that is under discussion but the way it is represented, or in my opinion, mis-represented by this film. »
03 Apr 2006
Don Pasquale is generally considered one of Donizetti's greatest works. Yet, "[o]f the three Donizetti operas being performed at The Met this season, the comedy Don Pasquale has been out of the repertoire for the longest time." This season the opera returns with bass Simone Alaimo (Don Pasquale), soprano Anna Netrebko (Norina) and tenor Juan Diego Flórez (Ernesto). Here are four reviews. »
01 Apr 2006
Tuxes and gowns, a marathon of trotting on and offstage by renowned singers, a ritzy audience abusing their palms with ritual clapping—yes, EuroArts has another opera gala event available on DVD in this two-disc Vienna State Opera Gala concert. »
31 Mar 2006
This is a wonderful, recent recording of these popular piano concertos by Rachmaninov. The Piano concerto no. 1 is a studio recording, while the Piano concerto no. 2 is a live version. »
