Author: James Sohre

Enterprising West Edge Opera recently mounted an engrossing new production of Damian Geter and Lila Palmer’s engaging opus, American Apollo. This is only the second staging since the World Premiere…

West Edge Opera Festival revealed a compelling new staging of Britten’s chilling psychological thriller, The Turn of the Screw. Director Mark Streshinsky had the good fortune of revisiting this haunting…

West Edge Opera has mounted a distinctly engaging staging of Handel’s Rinaldo that is not only musically thrilling, but also visually as much fun and as rambunctious as a box…

Santa Fe Opera’s stunning production of Handel’s Rodelinda is unquestionably among the finest realizations of a Baroque Opera I have ever experienced. Quite simply, it succeeds on every level and…

It took some time for me to get oriented at Santa Fe Opera’s often (too) busy staging of Tchaikovsky’s lush masterwork, Eugene Onegin, but overall the musical excellence reigned supreme.…

Composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman have seized on the compelling true story of Lili Elbe, and while their operatic creation has some notable artistic legs, it also…

Des Moines Metro Opera’s unsurpassingly ravishing production of Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger has joined the ranks of the finest performances I have ever experienced. This seldom performed masterpiece does not…

Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca is a Top Ten favorite that hasn’t been seen at Des  Moines Metro Opera since 2009, so the company thought it was high time to give its…

A riveting, heart-wrenching, emotionally raw traversal of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men has arrived at Des Moines Metro Opera in celebration of the centenary of the composer’s birth.    At…

With its riveting production of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has dramatically reinforced its stature as one of the nation’s finest summer festivals. First,…