Reviews
Canadian Opera Company Pomegranate The World Premiere of Kye Marshall and Amanda Hale’s Opera
On paper, the Canadian Opera Company’s Pomegranate, the opera about lesbian love and loss was intriguing and appealing; it had its world premiere on June 2 at the COC Theatre on Front Street. A plot line that shifts between ancient Pompeii as Vesuvius erupts and a...
Opéra National de Paris Ariodante Robert Carsen is “a master of the surprise ending”
With more than three decades in the field, Robert Carsen is celebrated in Europe and America alike for his intelligently conceived and stunning productions, and— as his new Ariodante shows—he is also a master of the surprise ending. Is it purely serendipitous that the...
Southern Ontario Lyric Opera La traviata “an evening of superb vocalism by the principals”
Since its inception in 2015, the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera (SOLO), under the leadership of Artistic Director Sabatino Vacca, has been a welcome addition to the musical life of Burlington and beyond. This performance of La Traviata, staged in the acoustically...
Theater an der Wien Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo “not just a landmark in opera history but also genuinely enjoyable”
Emilio de’ Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo of 1600 is the first opera to come down to us and has some claim to being the earliest work in the genre. In 2021 it was given a fully staged production, directed by Robert Carsen, at the Theater an der...
Opéra Comique Carmen “the top-notch children’s chorus from the Maîtrise Populaire de l’Opéra Comique is an absolute highlight”
German director Andreas Homoki's new staging of Carmen brings the world's most-performed opera back to its roots at the Opéra Comique, where it was premiered in 1897, using the actual backstage with Gustave Eiffel's seven iron doors and brick wall as the main backdrop...
Canadian Opera Company Tosca “a reading that loudly accented some of the big moments and played up the vivid colouring of Puccini’s rich orchestration”
The late American musicologist Joseph Kerman famously dubbed Puccini’s Tosca “that shabby little shocker,” though his pithy characterization is actually the opening salvo of a critical assault on the composer’s final opera, Turandot. Kerman had already had his way...
Houston Grand Opera Salome Maestro Keri-Lynn Wilson “balanced crisp rhythms and powerhouse sonority with delicacy and lilt”
There is a lot of talk in Richard Strauss’s Salome that something bad may happen. Several unfortunate things happened concerning Houston Grand Opera’s sixth staging of the opera, seen April 30 in Wortham Theater Center’s Brown Theater. But multiple delays and...
Canadian Opera Company Macbeth “COC Chorus and Orchestra are in top form for this musically exciting work”
Verdi’s Macbeth, which opened the Canadian Opera Company’s spring season April 28, is a challenging piece. It premiered in Florence in 1847 but was then revised for Paris in 1865 with significant cuts and additions. It’s mainly the later version we see today, which...
Manitoba Opera Così fan tutte capping its 50th Anniversary Season with Laughter and Wit
Manitoba Opera (MO) capped its 50th anniversary season with laughter and wit this spring; its latest production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte cheekily billed as a “Canuck Cosi” more Canadian than a bottle of maple syrup or hockey Saturday night. Three performances held...
The Metropolitan Opera Champion “There wasn’t a weak performance onstage”
There’s a fistful of good reasons for seeing Champion. There’s the story, a real and strong one: the life of the sexually conflicted prizefighter Emile Griffith, haunted by his accidental killing of another boxer in the ring. There’s James Robinson’s direction, clear...
The Metropolitan Opera La bohème Nézet-Séguin “was greeted with the evening’s heartiest cheers”
In his not-quite-fourteen years at The Metropolitan Opera, that compact bundle of music-directorial energy known as Yannick Nézet-Séguin has taken his measured time with Puccini: a decade passed before his first Turandot, in October 2019, and another two years elapsed...
Amici Chamber Ensemble From Strauss to the Orient “Joyce El-Khoury’s soaring soprano was even more impressive than usual”
The 2022-23 season of the Amici Chamber Ensemble drew to a glorious close with From Strauss to the Orient, a strikingly beautiful concert of works by Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, and a group of Lebanese songs (likely unfamiliar to most in the audience). For the...