In the charming city of Charlottesville in central Virginia lies a gem of an opera company that performs at the wonderful Paramount Theater nestled in a lovely square. The venue…
Category: Performances
Shakespeare Opera Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet: Sumptuous Romance in the heart of Northern Virginia
Over the past ten years, Shakespeare Opera Theatre has made a name for itself by combining Shakespeare’s plays with operatic adaptations of his work. Managing director Dr. Lori Lind’s encyclopedic…
La Calisto in Aix
Dutch stage director Jetske Mijnssen transferred Francesco Cavalli’s whimsical 1651 comedy La Calisto from its native Venice to France, one hundred years later — 1751, where the arts of an…
DMMO’s Dutch Treat
It proved to be smooth sailing as Des Moines Metro Opera thrillingly met the substantial challenges of Wagner’s seminal work, The Flying Dutchman. They started by assembling a nonpareil cast…
Stunning Cunning Vixen in Iowa
Given the miraculously spellbinding production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Des Moines Metro Opera, New Mexico just may have to cede its motto: Land of Enchantment. There is…
Louise in Aix
Most of us know “Depuis le jour” from Louise, but few of us know Gustave Carpentier’s opera Louise. The Aix Festival has just now reintroduced the opera in a production…
Des Moines: A Rake to Remember
Des Moines Metro Opera has advanced its record for excellence with a musically resplendent, visually rich, wholly riveting production of Stravinsky’s multi-faceted piece, The Rake’s Progress. The glories in store…
The Story of Billy Budd, Sailor in Aix
“After Benjamin Britten,” the title continues. Thus a twentieth century masterpiece was reduced to its twenty-first century essentials — six singers, three keyboards, percussion, a platform and a sail. The…
Don Giovanni in Aix
The late, justly mourned Pierre Audi, general director of the Aix Festival for these last seven festivals, matched renowned conductors and stage directors to create monumental stagings of the gamut…
Les Indes galantes – Discovered in Rural Hampshire
It is 12 years since Glyndebourne staged Hippolyte et Aricie, and eight since ETO showcased Dardanus, but perhaps Garsington’s success last summer with Rameau’s wicked comedy Platée will have prompted…