Book Review: Opera in the British Isles, 1875 – 1918

Opera in the British Isles might seem a rather sparse subject in the period 1875 to 1918. Notoriously described as the land without music, even the revival of the native tradition of composers did not include a strong vein of opera.

The Tender Land in Lyon

It is not often that a Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land comes along with resources like those of the OpÈra de Lyon, one of Europe’s finest. So carpe diem!

Don Giovanni, Royal Opera

Kasper Holten’s new production of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera
House risks laying the house’s Director of Opera open to charges of
antiquated mores and misogyny: for he seems to suggest that the women are just
as bad, if not worse, than their seducer — and that a soulful man who seeks
genuine love is likely to find his ‘ideal beloved’ forever out of reach.

Pagliacci Opens San Diego Opera’s 2014 Season

On January 28, San Diego Opera presented Pagliacci as the opening production of the 2014 season. Often staged along with another opera, such as Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, this Pagliacci faced the opera world alone.

Coeur de Chien aka A Dog’s Life in Lyon

If satire is your thing you will not want to miss this opera about human testicles grafted onto a dog.

Rusalka in Monaco

Every-once-in-a-while a Rusalka comes along, and this week there are even two here on the French Riviera — just now in Monaco and upcoming Saturday on movie screens all along the coast.