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.

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.