Author: Gary Hoffman

In its new production of Mozart’s Die Entf¸hrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) Lyric Opera of Chicago has achieved a fusion of eighteenth-century sensibilities with a modern adaptation of traditional dramatic and stage techniques.

Perhaps I’d better just describe what I experienced, Captain.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music drama Die tote Stadt has had a rather erratic life in major opera houses.

On a stormy evening in Houston (both in and outside of the house), Houston Grand Opera’s opening night production of Verdi’s Rigoletto went off with a thunderous bang.

Rome’s opera house was built in 1880, in the explosion of building that followed the unification of Italy with Rome as its capital.

Rigoletto is the ideal first opera: a taut tale, comprehensible characters, terrific tunes, and not an ounce of fat anywhere.