Kyra Millan: making Opera for All Ages

Interview

"The singing can sound silly to some at first, because it is a very intense, open sound, but with some of the best music ever written in the hands of a skilled artist, live music can bypass the intellect and resonate directly with the soul and heart."

Celebrating Bernstein in Chicago: "How can one not be enchanted?"

Review

How can one not be enchanted? This is the same Bernstein-ian smile I recognize in my teachers' recollections of their mentor, the same smile that, to my ears, permeates his whole artistic output, and the same smile that suffused the Lyric Opera of Chicago's commemorative Bernstein concert this past Saturday at the Lyric Opera House.

Heavy on the plot points: The Great God Pan

Review

This is a fast-moving plot told through ten characters, with the six scenes totalling a brisk 85 minutes of music. At times, the story felt a bit overstuffed. With so many necessary plot points to get through, character growth got stifled; I found myself wanting a better sense of what motivated these characters, and who they are as individuals.

Talking with singers: Stephanie Blythe

Interview

Blythe approaches her recital work with a refreshingly casual air, as though she doesn't confuse her passion with taking it all too seriously. She has even graced the recital stage with her ukulele in hand, a more recent passion-project of hers. "I just did a recital in New York; here we are in Merkin Hall, singing 'Don't Fence Me In' and I was accompanying on ukulele."

Elektra and Parsifal: Yannick at the MET

Review

When Yannick made his Met debut on New Year's Eve, 2009, he wrought perhaps the most propulsive Carmen prelude ever from the Met orchestra and fuelled crazily impassioned singing from an all-star cast.

Palpable chamber music: Haymarket Opera's Lenten Oratorio

Review

The music of the crowd and demons, solidly sung by Kaitlin Foley, Carrie Henneman Shaw, Mischa Bouvier, Drew Minter, William Dwyer, and Mark Haddad, featured shifting homophonic and imitative textures and brisk dance rhythms. Musical highlights include the snappy setting of the word "Barabbas," which formed a recognizable ritornello early on, and a flourishing melisma on the final word of part one ("festante"), that traveled brilliantly through each voice in succession.

American Baroque Opera Co.'s first staged opera a winner in Alcina

Review

Alcina is definitely a musician's opera: one goes to it not so much for the story, but for what Handel has entrusted his virtuoso cast to contribute to the plot through great lyric vocalism and expansive lines, with coloratura used quite sparingly, which renders this a difficult piece to make interesting.

A kind of twisted, egotistical apotheosis: Faust in Chicago

Review

Dressed as a fantastical dandy in a violent orange suit, van Horn's Mephisto was cool. And it's not just his good looks—which not even a black-and-white pompadour could disguise—it's also his booming but seductive-sweet voice.

Slapstick done right: Burnaby Lyric Opera's Barber

Review

When Figaro needs a guitar, a hand simply juts out from the wings with a guitar in hand, then promptly collects it when he's done. The show is full of hilarious slapstick comedy, amazing comic acting, and is an absolute comedic tour de force, which had the audience howling with laughter throughout.

Barton leads "fantasy cast" in WNO's Don Carlo

Review

If you were asked to come up with a fantasy cast for a hypothetical production of Don Carlo, you'd be have a hard time assembling a lineup better than the one at Saturday night's performance. Tenor Russell Thomas sings the title role with clarity and passion, and not a hint of the strain which is all too common in this repertoire. Throughout their duet, his voice blends seamlessly with Quinn Kelsey’s Rodrigo.