San Diego Opera's 60th Anniversary La bohème sees Mimì as a ghost
True impact: DMMO's Glory Denied
ReviewThis is Des Moines Metro Opera's second opera performed at Camp Dodge, and I hope it will not be the last. Aside from the physical location, the collaboration with the military community produces numerous benefits. The participation of veterans and active duty service members in the post-show panel discussion helped to bridge the gap between theater and reality.
A chilling cry of warning: ENO's War Requiem
ReviewIt is a piece that could have been so unabashedly English but instead it was a nationless, chilling cry of warning. It was a perverted mockery of the dangerous, power hungry nature of war. It was one long, beautiful moment of extended prayer.
Juilliard's Turn
ReviewThe singers are works-in-excellent-progress, with the exception of Mr. Sy who is already "ready for the big time." Mr. Sy possesses an extraordinary tenor instrument that switches easily and constantly from forte to pianissimo, and from full voice to falsetto.
Recording Dame Smyth: "Pretty good - for a woman."
NewsPredictably, Smyth's music has not received the same recognition and appreciation as that of her male contemporaries like Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Grieg. "Pretty good - for a woman," was among the tiring sentiments by critics of Smyth's day.
"Star-cross'd lovers" cross artistic lines in new co-production
Interview"I'm glad that Charles Gounod is a French composer because I can understand the opera in my own language. In many ways, Gounod's score is so far away from the Prokofiev score. Prokofiev's music is imminently danceable, the chords and harmonizations are rich and original. But Prokofiev's score is very dark while Gounod infuses a lot of colour, humour and drama."
Schoenberg in Hollywood & a heap of excess
ReviewAlas, if only the final product understood the virtues of restraint! Its frequent dips into genre-based excess often veered into garish, meandering displays that more often than not proved so distracting it lost sight of the work's soul.
Wherefore art thou, opera?
Op-edIt becomes an important responsibility of artists to comment on the topics of the day, no matter how messy or fraught. It can no longer stand for us present a particular historic piece of theatre art "as-is" and to satisfy ourselves with platitudes about how "that's how it was written, it's just of its time".
Silent Night ages well in Minnesota revival
ReviewWhat is most remarkable about this opera, is how it really transfers the movie effectively to the stage. I really felt like I was watching the movie! Many of the memorable scenes were recreated very accurately. Minnesota Opera has proved once again their extraordinary talent at bringing new operas to life.
Am I allowed to hate Silent Night?
ReviewAnd I'm sorry, but I did hate it. These are words I've almost never uttered about an opera, and it doesn't feel good to be typing them now. The work's overall message - that if we can only see the humanity in our opponents, then we might be able to put an end to the violence of war - rings hollow when the fascism and authoritarianism that rose out of the ashes of the Great War (something the libretto only acknowledges in passing) are looming once again in the 21st century.
"Catharsis" is the wrong word: Britten's War Requiem
ReviewThere was bile on Tovey's tongue that rang into Roy Thomson Hall, and its effect lingered long enough to dovetail into the first bars of the War Requiem. I have always found something magnetic and charismatic about Tovey, and as silly as it may sound, to hear him indulge in a brief moment of personal feelings about the meaning of war and commemoration felt akin to hearing a friend's firsthand experience with tragedy.