Victor DeRenzi is a man of convictions ó and of courage. Given his commitment to tradition, you might call DeRenzi, artistic director of Sarasota Opera since 1982, conservative.
Category: Reviews
A Cut Too FarÖ..the new Giulio Cesare in Lausanne
With what might (if one were risking facetiousness) be termed a ìfalse-setî of four countertenors in the cast, this was always going to be an intriguing production of Handelís Giulio Cesare for aficionados of a voice type which has revolutionised the perception (and popularity) of baroque opera over the past 15 years.
The Minotaur ó Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Harrison Birtwistle’s new full-scale opera, commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is a study of isolation and imprisonment.
BELLINI: Norma
This production offers a different view of Norma. As Stage Director Guy Joosten explains in the introduction on the first of a 2-disc set, he wanted to give the audience ìmoreî of what he believes the modern audience expects.
(Mostly) Pretty Poison
What to make of “Lucrezia Borgia”? I have always felt that, some lovely arias notwithstanding, this Donizetti work never really gets going until the slam-bang soprano-baritone duet in Act II.
KUMMER: Cello Duets
If Friedrich August Kummer is not a household word in your home, no reason for concern ó he is one of the prolific Kleinmeistern of the post-Beethoven generation, a generation for which the cost of printing had dropped so much that it was financially possible for a composer to produce hundreds of published opuses.
Frankurt Opera ó The Rape of Lucretia
Plainly put, Frankfurt Operaís ìThe Rape of Lucretiaî could be offered as a textbook example of just how great a performance can be when everything goes right.
Berlinís ìotherî opera often stellar
It is, you might say, the little opera that can. True, if itís size of the budget, the price of tickets and the number of seats that concerns you, the Komische Oper is clearly the third of Berlinís opera houses.