Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is celebrating fifty fabulous years with this festival, and by returning to the first opera it ever presented, Don Pasquale, it has mined anniversary gold.…
Author: James Sohre
Haunting House in the Gateway City
With its stylish festival level performance of the fiercely original piece, This House, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis continues its almost unrivaled record for commissioning and staging World Premieres. This…
Saint Louis Strauss Drives Audiences Batty
Unrelenting, raucous animation was the salient characteristic that pervaded Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ lively version of that evergreen favorite, Die Fledermaus (The Bat), and the capacity audience roared in…
A Dreamy Midsummer Night in Saint Louis
From the downbeat to Britten’s A Midsummer Night Dream at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, we instantly sensed there was musical magic in the air, for the esteemed Leonard Slatkin…
Gordon’s Seeing Through: A Fascinating Life in Progress
One of contemporary opera’s most brilliant and prolific composers, the inestimable Ricky Ian Gordon, has not only laid bare his soul, but also richly chronicled the peaks and valleys of…
Glimmerglass: Supremely Stylish La Calisto
High style and ample substance were equally on dazzling display in the new production of Francesco Cavalli’s La Calisto at the Alice Busch Opera Theatre. From the gender bending casting…
Glimmerglass: Impassioned Pagliacci Plus A Surprise
Shortly before the curtain rose on a splendid production of the evergreen favorite, Pagliacci, we were informed that Glimmerglass Music Director Joseph Colaneri was indisposed and would not conduct. That…
Glimmerglass: Elizabeth Cree Killer Production
Producing festival quality opera in these challenging times for the arts can be murder, but Glimmerglass is knocking ‘em dead with its thrilling and fulfilling new production of Elizabeth Cree.…
Glimmerglass: Rollicking Pirates Rock the Stage
Gilbert and Sullivan’s enduring favorite, The Pirates of Penzance, handily captured the hearts of the capacity audience at the Glimmerglass Festival and held them hostage in rapt amusement throughout a…
Santa Fe Opera’s Ravishing Rosenkavalier
Let me cut right to the chase and say that Santa Fe Opera’s stunning production of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier has driven me stark raving glad. It was a long-awaited thrill…