One of the City Opera’s happiest ventures over the years has been their Handel series.
Category: Reviews
Covert resistance to Hitler — Hartmann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus
An anti-facist, anti-war opera written in Germany while the Nazis were in power? K A Hartmann’s Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend was a brave act of conscience, even though the opera wasn’t publicly performed until 1948.
LA Opera finishes formidable Ring
The boo’s were boisterous when director/designer Achim Freyer came on stage at the end of Gˆtterd‰mmerung in Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on April 3.
Il Turco in Londra
It may be possible that there is no more effervescent entertainment on stage
in London now than the tirelessly clever revival of Il Turco in
Italia now playing at the Royal Opera House.
Hamlet, New York
Design is rotten in Denmark, evidently — and in every other grand
opera locale. “Palace” has come to mean “high school
basement,” or that’s what they look like. “Royal” is
synonymous with sleazy men in suits.
Verdi’s Falstaff (Glyndebourne 2009) on Blu-Ray
Much of the fascination of the new DVD of Verdi’s Falstaff (Glyndebourne 2009) lies in the Richard Jones’s updating: the action takes place in 1946.
Otello (Salzburg Festival 2008) on Blu-Ray
There are two reasons why you need to see the new Otello DVD (Salzburg Festival 2008).
Madama Butterfly, NYCO
Once again, as in L’Etoile, Mark Lamos’s staging and
Robert Wierzel’s lighting nearly steal the show in the City Opera’s
revival of Madama Butterfly.
A Composer Grows before his Work — The Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie Hall
Many congratulations and thanks are in order to the Collegiate Chorale for
bringing Ricky Ian Gordon’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath to New York audiences this week.
Christianne Stotijn at the Wigmore Hall
Unlike instrumental players, singers “are” their instrument. They aren’t machines. Performance is affected by many shifting factors, which need to be understood.