The large number of recordings of Bachís Mass in B minor predispose one to look for distinctions between them.
Cyrano at The Opera Company of Philadelphia
The Opera Company of Philadelphiaís February production is the second staging of David DiChieraís new opera Cyrano, a co-production with Michigan Opera Theater and Florida Grand Opera.
Miles Davis, Miles Smiles and the Invention of Post-Bop
It is a measure of the classic status that the music of Miles Davis has acquired in American culture that a single LP produced for Columbia in the 1960s (Miles Smiles) is the focus of a short monograph from Indiana University Press.
Short on the sides and Full On Top
Perhaps the most beloved comic opera, Rossiniís Il barbiËre di Siviglia has never left the repertoire.
The Sea Hawk and Deception
A typical film soundtrack today might not fill the length of a CD, while being padded with any pop music hits for which the producers would cough up the money…
Juan Diego Florez: Voce D’Italia – Arias for Rubini
The handsome face of tenor Juan Diego Florez naturally gets the cover of his latest CD, and his arguably unusually slim physique is on view too: on the inside cover of the booklet, on both the interior and rear of the jewel case, and on the back of the booklet.
Mary, Queen of Scots (Maria Stuarda)
San Diego Opera apparently has raided the vaults of Lincoln Center opera companies, circa the 1970s.
Puccini Gold
Many an anthology of Puccini’s “greatest hits” has found its way to market, and many more will follow this latest from Decca, Puccini Gold.
Salome at Covent Garden
The Royal Opera’s new Salome is set roughly in the 1930s, in surroundings which refer overtly to Pasolini’s SalÚ or the 120 Days of Sodom, populated by uniformed soldiers and naked whores.