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.

Handel and the Rival Queens: Lufthansa Baroque Festival

A fascinating evening of arias and readings on the theme of Handel’s “rival queens”, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni.

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.

Staatsoper Unter den Linden: Another Setback

http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/05/more_delays_for.php

More Delays for the Berlin State Opera

The re-opening of Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden has been set back for another year.