Kidon Choi
Palpable chamber music: Haymarket Opera's Lenten Oratorio
ReviewThe 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
ReviewAlcina 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
ReviewDressed 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
ReviewWhen 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
ReviewIf 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.
Too much magic? A Midsummer Night's Dream at ENO
ReviewBritten's stunning opera has made it into the standard operatic repertory not only because of the genius writing but because of its malleability as a piece. There are so many directions the design of this opera can go, and so many choices to be made for the character's relationships, thus every new production of Midsummer can feel like a new opera entirely.
Appetizers & arias: Popera! at the Drake One Fifty
EditorialPopera! has a chic air of exclusivity to it, the menu items like "Love Elixir" cocktails and "Opera Cake" seeming positively swanky when paired with Mozart. My only wish is that the event grows in size - as in, more singing, please. I could have done with a couple of sets' worth of singing, perhaps over appetizers as well as cocktails, with a bonus handful of sweet picks - some Andrew Lloyd Webber, say - for dessert.
A "rare event" at Chicago Lyric: Piotr Beczała in recital
Interview"I am pleased to say that, in my experience, audiences outside Poland respond to Polish music with great satisfaction and enthusiasm. I appeared one-and-a-half months ago in Zürich with this same program and the great majority of the audience seemed smitten with the Polish portion of the program."
Hilarity: Someone Like Me (L'opera di Facebook)
HumourThe folks behind Something Blue: The Bachelor Opera and Connection Lost: The Tinder Opera are back! This time, it's Someone Like Me (L'opera di Facebook), a harrowing tale of likes, validation, and rye toast. Adam Taylor writes and directs, with music by Nathan Fletcher. Baritone Jonathan Hare and soprano Amelia Berry star in the fab, sassy cast of this must-see:
Three cities, lots of options: coming up in March
NewsThe opera by composer Stewart Copeland and librettist Jonathan Moore is based on the novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, "La invención de Morel". An escaped fugitive ends up on a strange island, falls in love, is abandoned, and begins to unravel before meeting the mad scientist Morel.