When we entered the Crosby Theatre for Gounod’s RomÈo et Juliette the stage was surprisingly dominated by a somber, semi-circular black mausoleum, many chambers inscribed with scrambled names of US Civil War era dead.
Author: john_y
Coolly Elegant Vanessa in the Desert
Molten passions were seething just below the icy Nordic exterior of Santa Fe
Opera’s wholly masterful production of Barber’s Vanessa.
Racette’s Golden Girl in New Mexico
Fan interest began raging when Santa Fe Opera engaged venerable artist Patricia Racette to make her role debut as Minnie in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West.
Evergreen Baby in Colorado
Central City Opera celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Ballad of Baby Doe with a hip, canny, multi-faceted new production.
Lean and Mean Tosca in Colorado
Someone forgot to tell Central City Opera that it would be difficult to fit Puccini’s (usually) architecturally large Tosca on their small stage.
Des Moines’ Elusive Manon
Loving attention to the highest quality was everywhere evident in Des Moines Metro Opera’s Manon.
Falstaff in Iowa: A Big Fat Hit
Des Moines Metro Opera had (almost) all the laughs in the right places, and certainly had all the right singers in these meaty roles to make for an enjoyable outing with Verdi’s masterpiece
Des Moines’ Gluck Sets the Standard
What happens when just everything about an operatic performance goes joyously right?
Des Moines: Jewels in Perfect Settings
Two years ago, the well-established Des Moines Metro Opera experimented with a 2nd Stages program, with performances programmed outside of their home stage at Simpson College.