There are many different ways to analyze the health of New York City. My personal measurements judge the town thus: How many aspiring artsy kids are forced to share a single apartment in an outer borough while they “find themselves” and how many small but immensely able opera companies are functional at any given time.
Month: June 2012
Bluebeard’s Castle, New World Symphony
“I can guess what you are hiding.
Bloodstain on your warrior’s weapons.
Blood upon your crown of glory.
Red the soil around your flowers.
Red the shade your cloud was throwing.
Now I know it all, oh, Bluebeard.”
La BohËme, LA Opera
The Los Angeles opera company ended its 2011-2012 season with Giacomo
Puccini’s long-loved La BohËme, in a long-lived production. What is
it about this opera that keeps old loves alive?
Detlev Glanert’s Caligula, ENO
Detlev Glanert’s Caligula at the ENO shows how powerful modern opera can be. Caligula was a tyrant, but this opera isn’t sensationalist.
Don Giovanni, LA Philharmonic
Kudos to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Gustavo Dudamel for their courageous plan to present semi staged performances of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy of Italian operas with the assistance of outstanding set and costume designers and directors.
Salome, Royal Opera
In David McVicar’s staging of Strauss’s disturbing opera, first seen at
Covent Garden in 2008 and now enjoying its second revival, Salome’s descent
down the Stygian staircase is a literal drop into a subterranean slaughterhouse
and an ethical fall into the delights and depravity of her of burgeoning yet deadly sexuality.
Maria Padilla: Chelsea Opera Group
Donizetti’s Maria Padilla received a concert performance with the Chelsea Opera Group.
A Toronto Trilogy
Canadian Opera Company’s diverse May offerings included some superlatively sung Handel, a galvanizing star turn from a rising tenor talent, and a well-matched veristic double bill of tragedy and comedy.