Strong despite the details: Rigoletto in Minnesota

Review

The musicality and the drama reached its peak with the final scene. The electricity coming up from the pit was so palpable, I felt physically ill when Rigoletto held his daughter for one last time. Despite a few issues with the production itself, the power of the story came through.

BLO's Threepenny Opera: a misanthropic delight

Review

And then Kelly Kaduce came onstage: when her Polly Peachum walked on in an unglamorous wedding dress and unkempt black hair playing a sarcastic, monotone version of the typical operatic ingenue her character is written as, it became clear exactly what the work was setting out to do.

"Susannah is THE great original American opera."

Interview

"I particularly love the wide open interval leaps in her first aria 'Ain't it a pretty night.' You feel Susannah's longing to escape the small town and you see the beauty of the mountains and valleys before her. It's pure Americana in spirit and sound."

Calgary Opera launches 2018-19 season

Editorial

"This story seemed to have all those big emotions, everything from love and death and hubris and heroism, " says Talbot. "People absolutely pushed to the full extremes of their mental and physical capacity. It's an interesting psychological journey through the minds of various different people."

Review: ALICE and the Patriarchy

Review

The gallery setting served Prescott's creation. The piece thrives on intimacy. The audience benefits from the freedom to wander around, whisper to their neighbor, and collectively figuring out how to behave in and interact in the brightly lit environment.

Talking with singers: Tara Erraught

Interview

"It never gets easier to say no to an interesting offer, even though you may well know you don't have the time, so your management team and your teacher are vital in guiding you at every step in what is a healthy decision, always."

Talking with singers: Isabel Bayrakdarian

Interview

And right in between, there's the chamber group experience, which feels intimate enough that you don't need a conductor, but there's a constant sense of awareness of the need to be very sensitive to each instrument enveloping you (literally and figuratively) on stage. So there's more conscious give and take - teamwork - to make the collective work and shine.

Review: New music quartet entertains and bores

Review

In the second section, the ensemble collectively sustained a layered, nuanced, morphing wail. Imagine an emergency foghorn exploding a metropolitan soundscape, triggering car alarms, and galvanizing old-timey constables to lay on their whistles. Think a Lichtenstein-ian Whaam! Blam! Pop! in musical form.

Fellow Travelers is "luminous" in Chicago

Review

The chemistry between these two singer-actors in their respective roles was electrifying and irresistible. Your heart soared watching their passion ignite and then sink as their lives and personalities diverged.

Materialism turns tragic: don't miss The Overcoat

Interview

"The overcoat is stunning," says baritone Geoffrey Sirett, who is set to sing the role of Akakiy. "It transforms his life, because it is so beautiful and immaculately designed, and it gives him his five minutes of fame."