There is much to admire in Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach performances with the Bach Collegium Japan, and this recording of excerpts from the St. Matthew Passion will remind the listener of the diverse ways in which this is so.
Author: Gary Hoffman
Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci — English National Opera, London Coliseum
For the opening of the 2008/09 season at ENO, Richard Jones has teamed up with two separate theatrical writers, Sean O’Brien and Lee Hall, to create unique new versions of the repertoire’s most famous double bill.
The Barber of Seville — English National Opera, London Coliseum
It can be difficult to inject life into a production which has been a staple of a company’s repertoire for over twenty years.
Macbeth at Bavarian State Opera
If Munichís new Macbeth production does anything, it stirs emotions and draws heated response.
On The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Decades ago a New Yorker cartoon showed a very little girl standing on tip-toe to return a book to a matronly librarian.
Die tote Stadt at San Francisco Opera
Korngold’s third opera Die tote Stadt premiered in 1920 in Cologne, the composer a mere 23 years old. Back then, opera remained a living art form, with the likes of Strauss and Puccini keeping the public excited about new works.
Tom Moore Interviews Mark Engebretson
A virtuoso saxophonist, performing internationally, Mark Engebretson is also a composer whose recent works often take place at the interface between the live performer and the computer.
Tom Moore Interviews Alejandro Rutty
Composer Alejandro Rutty is newly-arrived in North Carolina, where he teaches at UNC Greensboro.
Korngold opera the “Hair” of its day
Back in the 19th century it was not smoke, but hair that got in one’s eyes.