http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703856504575600763772104790.html?mod=WSJ_ArtsEnt_LifestyleArtEnt_4
Author: Gary Hoffman
Don Giovanni, ENO
There’s nothing wrong with updating an opera as long as the director,
designer and conductor share an understanding of the work’s principal ideas and motivations, conflicts and contexts, and have a clear vision of how they intend to communicate these in a new setting.
Il Trovatore, Metropolitan Opera
It’s difficult to be reasonable about Il Trovatore. Reason is the last quality we expect from any of its characters or situations.
Vocalists sing in BLO aria contest
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/11/07/opera_idols_revamp_their_tune/
Those foolish mortals are back, courtesy of Britten and the Bard
By John von Rhein [Chicago Tribune, 7 November 2010] “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Lyric Opera of Chicago is a bit slow to find its comic rhythm, the early scenes…
Shirley Verrett
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8115979/Shirley-Verrett.html
La Cenerentola, Minnesota Opera
Minnesota Opera’s recent production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola certainly is a fantastical, comical portrayal of the classical fairy tale.
Intermezzo, New York City Opera
Pace Tolstoy, happy marriages are not all alike, but they
require a lot of work.
The Fan-dome of the Opera
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/886970–the-fan-dome-of-the-opera
Overture to London’s Handel Festival 2011
The small but perfectly formed Grosvenor Chapel in London’s exclusive Mayfair was the venue last Monday night for a programme of Handel vocal and instrumental music of considerable quality — if minimal quantity.