The ‘little square’ of Wolf-Ferrari’s charming comic opera is one in Venice, as peopled by local characters in a mid-18th century play by Goldoni. It’s as though one of the domestic…
Year: 2026
Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony at the RFH
There was a time when London’s walls were papered with Mahler 2s; certainly, in the 1980s, performances were regular occurrences with nary a month going by without one or other…
East and West meet at Opéra Bastille with Nixon in China
There can be few, if any, operas which feature a grand gathering of table-tennis players. Bizaare that may be, it’s not so unreasonable if you’re aware of the link between…
I Feel the Air of Another Planet: Barbara Hannigan and the Belcea Quartet
Listen to Beethoven’s Second Symphony and you would be hard put to make a connection with the composer’s inner turmoil and his realisation that the increasing signs of incurable deafness…
Telemann Old and New: Florilegium at Wigmore Hall
What a treat to hear a full concert of Telemann’s magnificent music. The dates of composition of the pieces span 30 + years: hence, “Telemann Old and New,” with the…
Annapolis Opera’s Hansel and Gretel: An Updated Setting That Works
With no curtain hiding it, the audience could enjoy Edward T. Morris’s angular, disjointed, abstract design of the ever-present trees on the set as they sat down in the theater…
IN Series’ Passio Gives Artists the Opportunity to Put Their Passions on Display
Continuing their Passion Plays festival with this second in a series of three works, IN Series this past weekend featured Passio, a work produced by Maribeth Diggle and Lucie de…
Washington Concert Opera Brings the House Down with Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers
Going in to Washington Concert Opera’s production of The Pearl Fishers on Saturday, I had low expectations as this was the composer’s first major opera to be produced professionally. My…
Chelsea Opera Group’s Mascagni Double Bill is a Wonderful Display of Tenor Vocalism
Mascagni’s breakthrough opera Cavalleria rusticana is often now paired with something other than ‘Pag’, but rarely with his own later essay in verismo, Silvano (1895). It’s a similarly terse drama…
Washington National Opera Comes Back With Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha
Treemonisha is a triumph for several reasons. The score may not show off the voices like some of the bel canto classics, it takes until the end of the first…