Porgy through a glass lightly

It was, of course, coincidence. When the Chicago Lyric Opera scheduled George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for the current season, not even the preludes to the 2008 presidential election had begun.

Munich’s Christmas Treasures: Massenet and Handel

Not all of Munich’s holiday delights are to be found at the just-opened annual Christmas Market filling the Marienplatz and environs.

Carmen at the Washington National Opera

From the director’s point of view, there are two ways to approach staging an opera.

Verdi’s Aida at La Scala

Can this truly be the production of Verdi’s Aida that earned world-wide headlines in December 2007?

PUCCINI: La Fanciulla del West — La Scala 1956

La Fanciulla del West: Opera in three acts.

GIORDANO: Marcella

Alberto Cant˘’s booklet essay for the Dynamic release of Umberto Giordano’s rare one-act opera Marcella quotes a review from the day after the 1907 premiere, which indicates that the premiere’s audience’s expectations of “greater originality of melodic invention” went unmet.

The Tales of Hoffmann at Covent Garden

The opening performance of the ROH’s seventh revival of John Schlesinger’s 1980 production of The Tales of Hoffmann was
dedicated to the memory of Richard Hickox.

Hickox death sparks artistic review

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/11/25/1227491543233.html

Debussy’s PellÈas – a fine swansong for Independent Opera in London

PellÈas et MÈlisande in a 200 seat theatre, with just 35 musicians and no pit?

The MET Celebrates 125th Anniversary with Gala Performance 3/15

http://broadwayworld.com/article/The_MET_Celebrates_125th_Anniversary_With_A_Performance_315_20081125