Preparing for the Met premier of Nixon in China, I resolved to
forget—or place on hold—everything I remembered, or thought I
remembered, about the real persons who are characters in this opera,
Category: Performances
Nixon in China, New York
Turandot, San Diego
The original story that formed the basis for the libretto of Puccini’s
opera Turandot told of a Mongolian princess who insisted that any
prospective husband endeavor to win a wrestling match with her.
Magdalena Kozen·, Wigmore Hall
It’s a rare recital that can be at one and the same time intensely
intimate and extravagantly exuberant, but that’s just what Magdalena
Kozen· and the eight-piece Austrian ensemble Private Musicke achieved in this
fascinating and exhilarating concert, which brought a thrill of passion,
spontaneity and excitement to the usually more restrained and rarified
atmosphere of the Wigmore Hall.
Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Florida Grand Opera
If you are ever lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch a great exponent of just one of two major roles — the heroines or villains — in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, you should secure a seat maintenant.
Randy Rossini Romp in Z-Town
If proof were needed, the Swiss capital’s heady new Le Comte Ory cements the notion that super-star Cecelia Bartoli certainly seems to have found an ideal home at Zurich Opera.
Jurowski, Das klagende Lied
Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic have repeated their success with Mahler’s Das klagende Lied at the Royal Festival Hall.
Die Zauberflˆte, Covent Garden
Premiered in 2003, and aired again in 2005 and 2008, this current revival of David McVicar’s Die Zauberflˆte brings many ‘old hands’ back together to re-visit oft-frequented roles on familiar ground.
Heggie’s Dead Man Walking triumphs at HGO
The production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking currently on
stage at the Houston Grand Opera is marvelously celebratory in its success.
Lucrezia Borgia, ENO
Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at the English National Opera, London, is an interesting hybrid. The opera is performed “straight” so to speak, but encased in a frame of short filmed passages that add background and depth. These films don’t intrude, but enhance.
Mosheh, a VideOpera
Yoav Gal, an Israeli-born composer-in-residence at the HERE arts complex in
Manhattan’s South Village, calls Mosheh a “VideOpera,” rightly giving as much place to what is seen (electronic projections) as to what is heard (from four sopranos playing the women in the prophet’s life and an orchestra of nine musicians).