Manon, Metropolitan Opera

Massenet’s Manon succeeds in the theater when the soprano has
a real sense of the role and how she wants to present it.

Zagreb’s Wagner Casts Its Spell

Croatian National Opera, in collaboration with W¸rzburg’s (Germany) Mainfranken Theater has made quite a forceful case for Parsifal.

Manon Lescaut, Philadelphia

It is Manon month in the Mid-Atlantic states. In New York, the Met is presenting Massanet’s take, while Opera Company of Philadelphia has just opened Puccini’s version: his first successful opera, Manon Lescaut.

Matthias Goerne, Los Angeles

Los Angeles lieder lovers were treated to two extraordinary Schubertian
journeys on April 16th and 18th when bass-baritone Matthias Goerne partnered
with Christian Eschenbach performed the song cycles, Die schˆne
M¸llerin
and Winterreise, as part of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic’s celebration of the composer’s 215th birthday.

Der Freisch¸tz, London

The unfashionableness of Der Freisch¸tz in England is a little baffling. In its day, not only was the opera celebrated across Germany, it soon conquered other European stages and indeed theatres worldwide.

Richard Strauss: Salome

An exciting contribution to the discography of this popular opera, the live performance of Richard Strauss’s Salome from the Festspielhaus at Baden-Baden is a compelling DVD.

La Fille du Regiment, Royal Opera

The regiment marches onwards!

Show Boat at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Lyric Opera of Chicago has begun with the current season’s production of Show Boat a series of musicals of the American theater to be featured in coming years.

Wolfgang Rihm’s Jakob Lenz by ENO

When the ENO does really innovative work, it does so with style. Wolfgang Rihm’s Jakob Lenz may have taken 34 years to reach London fully staged, but this ENO production made such a strong impression that it might be years before it will be forgotten.

Folk songs that aren’t folk songs

The Wigmore Hall Dvo?·k series culminated in a concert by Bernarda Fink and Roger Vignoles.