Guilt, shame and suicide are not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to country house opera. And if Janáček’s angst-ridden masterpiece is not the obvious stimulant you’re hoping for,…
La Vestale in Paris
Though composed in 1805 Gaspare Spontini’s La Vestale reached the Paris Opera stage finally in 1807, and then only because Empress Josephine intervened. The empress would not have been amused just now…
Partenope in San Francisco
Unlike many of the recycled productions at San Francisco Opera, Christopher Alden’s famed 2008 production of Handel’s comedy Partenope, just now on the War Memorial stage, has lost none of…
Glamour & Gaiety in Glyndebourne’s freshly minted Merry Widow
Seen for the first time at Glyndebourne, this Merry Widow is a stylish romp that, in the hands of director Cal McCrystal, recalls the best of Broadway. Glamorous sets and…
Erwartung in San Francisco
In recent years the San Francisco Symphony has indulged itself with a staged event in June. This year, with a tightened budget, it was a brief evening made of Schönberg’s…
Michieletto’s “Camping Così” returns to the New National Theatre Tokyo
Damiano Michieletto’s 2011 production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, making a welcome return to the New National Theatre, Tokyo, was seen on June 1. Set in a contemporary campground, vividly…
Innocence in San Francisco
Rarely has an opera performance enthralled audiences as has Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence just now at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House. We were entranced for its 105 minute duration, suffering the enduring…
Die Zauberflöte in San Francisco
It was a hot ticket in Berlin back in 2012, it has since played in L.A. (2013), Chicago (2021), Des Moines (2022), and around the world in many editions throughout…
A Figaro for any time
In some senses this Figaro is a throwback. John Cox’s staging was first seen in 2005, when Garsington Opera still made its home in the gardens of Garsington Manor in…
Opera Holland Park’s new staging of The Barber of Seville provides food for thought
Ingénues might be forgiven for wondering why Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville isn’t named after the romantic hero who fights tooth and nail to win the object of his…