A new Meistersinger in Bayreuth

Following the one with the gigantic blow-up of Beckmesser as a caricatured evil Jew. Zeitgeist has now made Beckmesser a populist rockstar, (lead photo, Michael Nagy as Beckmesser). The problem…

An Evening With Loudoun Lyric Opera Brings Art Song to Loudoun County

As part of their Midsummer Opera Dream festival this year, Canto Vocal Programs collaborated for the first time in its ten-year history with Loudoun Lyric Opera on an art song…

Washington National Opera Coach Ken Weiss Holds Masterclass With Canto Virginia

In addition to its core faculty of opera industry professionals, Canto Vocal Programs makes it a point to provide its students with instruction and feedback from industry professionals from outside…

West Green Opera’s Macbeth Proves that Less is More

In the capable hands of director and designer Richard Studer and conductor Jonathan Lyness, this production more than suggests that Verdi’s Macbeth can be performed with a reduced orchestra and…

Something A Little Different Indeed: Yeomen of the Guard at Young Victorian Theatre Company

When one thinks of Gilbert and Sullivan, one thinks: Comedy. Wordplay. Happy ending. Although there is plenty of the first two in Yeomen of the Guard, alas, as the only…

Pénélope at Bavarian State Opera

Fauré’s only opera Pénélope was premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in March 1913, moving to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées only two months later. It has fared incommensurably less well…

Face-Melting Dialogues of the Carmelites at Wolf Trap Opera

What a delight to see the stage at The Barns so completely transformed from the set of Marriage of Figaro! It’s the first thing I noticed upon entering the venue.…

Die Liebe der Danae in Munich

For what continues to be considered an ill-fated rarity, Die Liebe der Danae has had several outings over the past couple of decades or so. I have seen three productions…

Plenty of Variety from the First Night of the Proms

The Proms season began with a curious mélange that was neither a bang nor a whimper. Its festive spirit was duly acknowledged with the Birthday Fanfare for Sir Henry Wood…

Rusalka by Opera Australia  

Instantly absorbing and continually moving, Opera Australia’s (AO) new production of Rusalka, directed by Sarah Giles, showcases Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s tragic fairy tale spectacularly in all its visual, musical and…