Reviews

A psyche in vignettes: Steve Jobs in Kansas City

A psyche in vignettes: Steve Jobs in Kansas City

The dramatic irony of someone denying paternity (but yet still naming his first computer model after his daughter Lisa) who was no doubt questioning his own lineage is fascinating. Jobs' treatment of the women, and other people, in his life is a dark theme in the work.

Callie Cooper
Surreal, Devastating Journeys Through Nighttown

Surreal, Devastating Journeys Through Nighttown

All I can say, is that I think this opera has an immense future in the opera house, and I cannot wait to see the life it is no doubt going to take.

Arturo Fernandez
A Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall

A Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall

The composite was a perceptive and refreshingly theatrical portrait of a complex and insightful woman, a musically shimmering, angry and sometimes languid conclusion to an extraordinary Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall.

John Hohmann
An excellent use of camp: Only an Octave Apart

An excellent use of camp: Only an Octave Apart

Musically, Only an Octave Apart has no business being so clever. The aria/song mash-ups are the product of a lot of thought and respect for the original works, but they're also so much fun.

Jenna Simeonov
Edmonton Opera delivers "all-the-feels" Bohème

Edmonton Opera delivers "all-the-feels" Bohème

The company has a triumphant opening night in spite of off-stage challenges.

Oliver Munar
Digital Svabda a ritualistic enigma, with some confusion

Digital Svabda a ritualistic enigma, with some confusion

I have to admit, after a while, the music did draw me in. This is an opera I suspect some people will have to sit with, but it will pull you into its language. And when it does, it does feel remarkably transformative afterwards.

Arturo Fernandez
Enchanting Production Brings Calgary Opera Back to Live, In-Person Audience

Enchanting Production Brings Calgary Opera Back to Live, In-Person Audience

On this night, the company’s full roster of emerging artists (now branded as the McPhee Artists in honour of the company’s longtime Artistic Director and CEO) enchanted the audience with a whimsical production that the whole family would enjoy.

Oliver Munar
Helios Opera brings hilarious Service Provider home

Helios Opera brings hilarious Service Provider home

Service Provider is essentially an opera all about cell phone use; the characters are on cell phones for most of the run-time, pretty much ignoring everything around them.

Arturo Fernandez
Obscura Nox: Plato meets Mozart and Iman Habibi in remarkable short film

Obscura Nox: Plato meets Mozart and Iman Habibi in remarkable short film

Under Mary Birnbaum's assured direction this harrowing and cerebral story moves in a refreshingly linear way. The extraordinary melding of music, voice, dance and photography, not to mention Plato's philosophical discourse, have melded in a way that leaves us artistically and emotionally sated.

John Hohmann
HGO Carmen "the epitome of unity"

HGO Carmen "the epitome of unity"

Everything about this production went out of its way to imbue the whole with artistic cohesion and integrity, even the elements that might have seemed vaguely avant-garde out of context.

Andrew Schneider

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