A Dog’s Heart, ENO

Three cheers — at the very least — for the English National Opera!

Tosca, Manitoba Opera

What some people won’t do for a standing ovation! Saturday night at the opera was a showcase of excesses.

Adriana Lecouvreur, Royal Opera

Two months into the current season, after a string of so-so revivals and a curiosity which deserved to be box-office dynamite but wasn’t, the Royal Opera has finally got round to a star-studded new production.

The Makropulos Case in San Francisco

Just now in San Francisco Finnish soprano Karita Mattila kicked ass as Jan·?ek’s 337 year old Elina Makropulos.*

Carmen, Arizona Opera

On Saturday November 13 and Sunday November 14, 2010, Arizona Opera presented Bernard Uzan’s rather different take on Bizet’s Carmen.

Il Viaggio a Sicilia

As I strolled around the corner into Piazza Verdi, my first view of Palermo’s Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele stopped me dead in my tracks and damn near took my breath away.

Gyˆrgy Kurt·g — Kafka Fragments, London

Can Haiku be improved by staging? Gyˆrgy Kurt·g’s Kafka-Fragmente (op. 24), is a masterpiece of zen-like purity.

Don Giovanni, ENO

There’s nothing wrong with updating an opera as long as the director,
designer and conductor share an understanding of the work’s principal ideas and motivations, conflicts and contexts, and have a clear vision of how they intend to communicate these in a new setting.

Il Trovatore, Metropolitan Opera

It’s difficult to be reasonable about Il Trovatore. Reason is the last quality we expect from any of its characters or situations.

La Cenerentola, Minnesota Opera

Minnesota Opera’s recent production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola certainly is a fantastical, comical portrayal of the classical fairy tale.