A sixteenth century Chinese epic novel has found its way to the stage of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House just now, namely “A Journey to the West” by Ming…
Year: 2025
Loudoun Lyric Opera Takes Giant Leap Forward With A Cossack Beyond The Danube
Eagerly anticipated by local audiences ever since it was announced last year, Loudoun Lyric Opera’s production of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky’s comic opera A Cossack Beyond The Danube in collaboration with United…
A Walküre to Divide Opinion from Opéra Bastille
How we respond to the second instalment of Calixto Bieito’s Ring cycle at Opéra Bastille may depend on your capacity to accept boundary-pushing challenges, or how comfortable you feel with a…
University of Maryland Presents a La finta giardinera to Equal Professional Productions
Written when Mozart was only eighteen years old, it seems fitting that a university opera program should produce La finta giardinera. Perhaps unexpected, however, is the professional quality that student…
Romanian Music Shines in Recital with Bel Cantanti Opera Company and Nicolae Bretan Music Society
This month, for the first time, Bel Cantanti Opera Company and the Nicolae Bretan Music Foundation are joining forces to promote the composer’s legacy and Romanian music and culture in…
Parsifal in San Francisco
San Francisco Opera unveiled a handsome new production of Parsifal just now — new productions a fairly rare occurrence at SFO. More importantly this Parsifal continues San Francisco Opera’s music…
Shakespeare Opera Theatre Announces 11th Season 2025-26
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Shakespeare Opera Theatre launches their 11th Season with a fully staged production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel December 5-14th at Hudson Hall in McLean, VA. Starring Amanda Densmoor as Gretel, Natalie…
ENO’s Dead Man Walking Asks the Big Questions
“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating”. This much-quoted line from Dietrich von Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) – a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident – could encapsulate the essence…
A Russian Rarity Fails to Truly Cohere: Staatsoper Hamburg’s New Ruslan and Lyudmila
There are a number of instances where the overture is much better known than the entire opera. One of those is Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila. Little other music by this…
Katie Mitchell’s Farewell to Opera with an Utterly Absorbing and Stimulating The Makropulos Case for The Royal Opera House
Who would want to live for 300 years? That is the question posed by Janáček’s all too rarely seen but fascinating opera The Makropulos Case: initially an open one perhaps,…