Elza van den Heever and the MET Orchestra: A stunning all-Strauss program
Leonard reigns as Rosina in WNO's Barber
ReviewLeonard's voice is smooth and dark, but simultaneously buoyant and splendidly agile; she is perfectly suited to Rossini, and she appears to love it. If only the staging used her better! She subtly pulled off one of the funniest moments of the evening as she began the cabaletta while genteelly practicing her needlepoint as she sings about being a sweet, obedient young lady, but once she arrives at the all important "ma..." sings "ma se mi toccano dov'è il mio debole" through gritted teeth as she aggressively stabs the sampler with her needle, while the audience roars with laughter.
Opera On Tap's Her Kind: music & a beer
ReviewHer Kind opened mysteriously enough as the sopranos entered costumed in dissimilar black outfits, their heads covered in grey veils. Standing strategically around the periphery of the playing area, they produced a polyphonic sound evoking the solemnity and religiosity of Hildegard's composition concerning salvation and the Virgin Mother.
Futuristic Baroque burlesque: Orphée
ReviewUndoubtedly, the standout performance of the show goes to the remarkable Company XIV. These six dancers, in some of the most exquisite costuming I've ever seen, moved throughout the show functioning much in the way a Greek chorus would. Their physicality representing the off-stage chorus as well as the virtual one compiled by singers from around the world submitting recordings of themselves.
Uncomfortable premieres: The Mother
ReviewI would place Merz and Osborn's opera somewhere in the middle of absurdist and literalist. They attempt to explore the psychological relationship of mother and son through repetitive material and an assertive musical language.
Beloved Bernstein: HGO's West Side Story
ReviewHGO hit the nail on the head in making West Side Story come across as a highly successful play with songs, with Jerome Robbins's choreography being by far the lead attraction of the evening in terms of its sheer power of unspoken expression.
Candide: projecting the best of all possible worlds
ReviewThere is the vexing notion that Bernstein was his own Dr. Pangloss, coaxing himself out of Westphalia into a musical and theatrical breach. If divine providence finally lights the way, it is energized more by the rigorous tug of theatrical absurdity and naive optimism, than Voltaire's satirical bite.
Sweeney Todd: Demon of Disguise
ReviewAudiences have been flocking to the Barrow Street Theater, which has been converted into a 135-seat pie shop, for over a year. The producers have the delicious cheek to sell meat pies, by reservation only, prior to each performance. They will be serving up those pies well into the summer.
The voice teacher series: Betsy Bishop
Interview"My singers, being older, have a different need for honesty. I don't think it is ethical for me to pronounce judgement on their potential, but I do think I should point out difficulties that might put a career out of reach for them."
"Requiem for a Lost Girl is based on a true story."
Interview"The tragedy of her death and stigma that surrounded it is still with me. This experience is how I found my way into the themes of this piece."
Distractions & indifference: Opera Omaha's Medea
ReviewCherubini's music suggests that Medea is going out in a blaze of remorseless glory, but nothing manifested in the staging to support this. I wanted to either hate Medea or cheer her on, but I was left feeling indifferent and unsatisfied.