CINDERELLA GLITTERS

JULES MASSENET’S ‘BROADWAY HIT,’ the 1899 Cendrillon, billed as Cinderella but sung in French, was given top notch treatment at its Santa Fe Opera debut Saturday night (July 15).

Vier letzte Lieder in Sofia and Varna

On June 9th in Sofia and 16th at the Varna Summer Festival, celebrated soprano Krassimira Stoyanova made her Richard Strauss debut in Vier letzte Lieder in her native Bulgaria.

Flights of Madness — Munich’s New “Orlando”

Returning from Munich’s new production of Handel’s “Orlando” at thirty thousand feet above clouds which might have done service as props for that opera when first staged in 1733, it occurred that the great man himself could have had things to say about what might be director David Alden’s valedictory baroque piece for the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Turn of the Screw at Kennedy Center

On May 22, the Kennedy Center’s Fortas Chamber Music Series and the Chateauville Foundation co-presented a fully staged production of Benjamin Britten’s haunting chamber opera The Turn of the Screw, conducted by Lorin Maazel. Here are three reviews:

Glyndebourne opens with CosÏ fan tutte

Glyndebourne opened this year’s festival with “a new production of Mozartís CosÏ fan tutte, subtitled ëThe school for loversí, will open the 2006 Festival. This masterpiece includes some of Mozartís most exquisite music, and CosÏís now established popularity, following comparative neglect in the 19th century, is partly due to Glyndebourneís championing of the work since the opening of the Festival in 1934.” Here are some initial reviews:

MONTEMEZZI: L’amore dei tre re

What happened to Italo Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre re? After the opera’s triumphant premiere at La Scala in 1913, Montemezzi was vaulted into the international limelight, and his creation enjoyed regular performances throughout the world until his death in 1952.

World Premiere of Miss Lonelyhearts at Juilliard

On 26 April, The Juilliard Opera Center gave the world premiere of Miss Lonelyhearts by Lowell Liebermann. Commissioned by the Centennial Commission of The Juilliard School with the support of the Trust of Francis Goelet, the production of Miss Lonelyhearts “has been developed cooperatively among The Juilliard School, the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati.” Here are two reviews.

Deborah Voigt as Tosca

Tosca “is based on a play by Sardou, which was written for the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt. Sardou crafted melodrama rather well, and Pucciniís librettists distilled the playís main attributes of action, sex, love, lust, politics, art and religion into one of the most popular operas of the verismo style.” Tosca is now playing at the Met with Deborah Voigt in the title role. Here are two reviews.

The Rake’s Progress at Opera Australia

In March the Glyndebourne Opera production of Jonathan Dove’s Flight played at the 2006 Adelaide Festival. Barely a week later a second Glyndebourne production presented by Opera Australia opened at the Sydney Opera House with further performances in Melbourne at the State Theatre.

Acis and Galatea at NYCO

This season, the New York City Opera presents Handel’s Acis and Galatea. “When it comes to Handel, he not only lives but thrives at City Opera. Here Ovidís Metamorphoses is both the source and the inspiration for Acis and Galatea, one of Handelís most elegant and sensual works.” Here are two reviews.