For Belliniís ìI Capuleti e i Montecchi,î Paris Opera peopled its revival with plenty of star power.
Category: Reviews
Opera with a human heart
When the Ringling Brothers folded their tents, opera took over. AÔda with elephants, and Walk¸re with real horses.
St. Francis in Amsterdam
It is a bit hard to know what to make of Olivier Messiaenís colossal piece ìSaint FranÁois díAssise,î beautifully mounted by Netherlands Opera.
Zurich Has Malibran to Thank
If you are going to produce Jacques Fromental Halevyís forgotten opera ìClari,î I urge you to first make sure you have a signature on the contact from a superstar with the firepower of Cecilia Bartoli.
Joye: Les plaintes de Gilles de Bins dit Binchois
The title of this recording ìJoy: the Laments of Gilles Binchoisî introduces a seeming contradiction, one that plays on a contemporaneous description of the composer as “pÈre de joyeusetË”óthe father of joyóin tension with an affinity for melancholy in his works.
SCHOENBERG: Moses und Aron
Even though it is one of the important operas of the twentieth century, Arnold Schoenbergís Moses und Aron is, perhaps, more esteemed than performed.
Der Rosenkavalier at ENO
It is worth remembering that prior to the premiËre of Straussís opera in 1911, the working title was ëOchs auf Lerchenauí.
Il Matrimonio Segreto in Brooklyn
Opera producers in quest of headlines, unable to make them from the limited number of Mozart operas available (all of them far too familiar) but equipped with the flood of attractive young singers trained to sing Mozart in conservatories (because singing Mozart does not harm young voices, and
singing Verdi and Wagner before 30 ó better yet, 40 ó often will), sometimes turn to Mozartís contemporary, Cimarosa, and his Il Matrimonio Segreto, to get attention.
Handel’s Rodrigo ó Ensemble San Felice, St Johnís Smith Square, London
Handelís Rodrigo, subtitled ëVincer se stesso Ë la maggior vittoriaí (Self-conquest is the greater victory) is one of the composerís earliest operatic works, and rarely heard.
Tree-mendous in Chicago
Chicago Opera Theater scored a resounding success with its area premiere of John Adamsí newest stage piece, ìA Flowering Tree.î