“If you could take any one memory with you to eternity, which one would you choose?” In Michel van der Aa’s After Life several people meet in a waiting room.
Category: Performances
La traviata in May, Royal Opera House, London
Richard Eyre’s production of La traviata is so beautiful that it can be watched repeatedly, yet still yield pleasure. But appearances, however splendid, aren’t quite enough to make a completely satisfying evening.
Heggie’s Moby-Dick a whale of an opera
It’s glorious and it’s gripping; it’s grand — and
it’s good! Indeed, Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick,
premiered by Dallas Opera in its handsome new Winspear Opera House on April 30,
is a work that restores meaning to basic vocabulary made banal by overuse
through the decades.
Modern English Song Alive and Well
London’s Wigmore Hall is one of the world’s great centres for art song. This recital, by Susan Bickley and Iain Burnside, specialists in the genre, showed that English language art song is alive and thriving.
Rossini’s Armida, New York
Armida is fabulous. That is to say, the story is a fable. Rinaldo,
the very type of Christian warrior, is torn between his duty to lead the First
Crusade and the sensual ecstasies offered by the beautiful sorceress Armida.
No Elephants — Aida at the Royal Opera House, London
It’s time Verdi got attention in Aida, not elephants.
The Power of Powder: Thomas AdËs at the Royal Opera House, London
Thomas AdËs’s Powder Her Face is back at the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House. It’s a classic. Once again, Joan Rodgers sings the Duchess, supported by Alan Ewing, Iain Paton and the incomparable Rebecca Bottone, all in multiple roles.
Floyd’s Susannah in Boston
Fifty-five years after its premiere, composer and creator reunite for a new
production at Boston University
Il barbiere di Siviglia, Arizona Opera
The story of Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (The
Barber of Seville) is based on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais’
1775 play, Le barbier de SÈville.
Towards the light: Juilliard students present Poulenc’s Dialogues
It started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Juilliard’s
production of Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues des CarmÈlites
opened on Wednesday, April 21 and the performance started out strong.