The Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 2025-2026 season recently with a dramatically powerful production of Luigi Cherubini’s Medea. The opera is a co-production of Lyric Opera of Chicago, the…
Category: Staged Operas
The Guildhall School’s Double Billing of Smyth and Respighi
Fairy tales have always been a deep source of inspiration for the creative arts. In the German context they tie in with an age-old fascination for and involvement with the…
Delius’s Problematic Conception in The Magic Fountain Not Overcome in Wexford’s Production
The inspiration for Delius’s The Magic Fountain (1895) stems from his time in Florida, when he ran an orange plantation for his father. It was the first in a trilogy…
Opera Baltimore and OperaDelaware’s Tosca: Viva To The Diva
It’s been said that opera companies program Tosca as an “easy” way to end their season. It is, after all, an opera that focuses on only three principal characters, and…
Wexford’s Riveting Blend of Comedy and Tragedy in Handel’s Last Italian Opera
In the last three or so of his operas, Handel demonstrated a fascinating move towards mixing elements of comedy within the format of opera seria that he had worked with…
Verdi’s Il trovatore Becomes Subdued in its French Version at Wexford
Famous for presenting rare operatic repertoire, it might come as a surprise to find Il trovatore programmed to open this year’s Wexford Festival. Presented in its French version, however, this…
Vibrant and Comic Portrayals from ENO’s Albert Herring
“This isn‘t our sort of thing, you know”, was the remarkable response by Glyndebourne’s founder John Christie to Benjamin Britten’s second chamber opera at its premiere in 1947. No less…
The Trees are Alive with the Sound of Music in Glyndebourne’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Glyndebourne’s programming of Britten’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for its autumn season might seem somewhat eccentric. But with summer now a fading memory and as October wears on,…
Forthright musical ebullience makes up for an uninspiring production of Handel’s Giustino
The Royal Opera House continues its series of Handel’s operas and oratorios premiered at the theatre which once stood on the same site with Giustino (1737). Coming from the end…
Annapolis Opera’s Don Giovanni: Vocal Performances Worthy Of A Sold-Out House
Who can resist a well-done classic? No one, apparently, as Maryland Hall was sold out for the second performance of Annapolis Opera’s Don Giovanni this past weekend. From the moment…