Intermezzo, New York City Opera

Pace Tolstoy, happy marriages are not all alike, but they
require a lot of work.

Angelika Kirchschlager, German Lieder 1830-40 Wigmore Hall

Angelika Kirchschlager and Malcolm Martineau at the Wigmore Hall showed what real Lieder singing should be.

Overture to London’s Handel Festival 2011

The small but perfectly formed Grosvenor Chapel in London’s exclusive Mayfair was the venue last Monday night for a programme of Handel vocal and instrumental music of considerable quality — if minimal quantity.

A Carmen Cast to Strength: Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Revival

For its second production of the current season Lyric Opera of Chicago has staged a modified revival of its Carmen under the direction of Harvey Silverstein.

Wexford Festival Opera 2010

After a rather lean 2009, the 59th Wexford Festival Opera season almost felt
like a return to generous days of old.

Haydn: L’isola disabitata, London

Haydn’s L’isola disabitata is ideally suited to the modern taste for chamber opera. This is Haydn for those who think they don’t like his operas or even baroque form.

Cervantino stages rare Graun opera — The Mexican national opera?

Clearly, there isn’t one. Yet, Carl Heinrich Graun’s 1755
rarely-performed Montezuma is of special importance in a country
celebrating 200 years of Independence from Spanish rule and 100 years since the
Revolution that ultimately toppled dictator Porfirio DÌaz.

New York Festival of Song

“Don’t I have the coolest job in the world?” said Steven Blier.

Kafka at the Opera: Bartlett Sher’s Production of Hoffmann at the Met

We all come to the opera for different things. To escape, to elevate, to laugh, to cry, or perhaps because someone else bought the tickets.

Piotr Beczala: RomÈo et Juliette, Royal Opera

Charles Gounod’s RomÈo et Juliette is almost more musical than opera. Everyone knows the story, and it would be hard to compete with Shakespeare. Gounod wisely focused on music, rather than drama.