Opera in the Outfield: not perfect, but welcome

Review

On the micro level, the Twin Cities has a thriving opera and theater community filled with small grassroots companies. I hope these companies survive and continue to engage their audiences until live performances are safe.

André Tchaikowsky's only opera: The Merchant of Venice

Review

Throughout his career his dedication to Shakespeare was unwavering. It was said that he could recite extended passages from Shakespeare's work with eloquence often surpassing that of cultivated speakers in his England, his adopted homeland.

Trial at Rouen slow but revealing on record

Review

Thankfully, Odyssey Opera thought a little ahead of the curve: for the next album in their recordings of newer opera, they have opted to put The Trial at Rouen on Boston Modern Orchestra Project's recording label, BMOP/sound, and with the same cast that performed it in December 2017, no less!

Tête à Tête at home: a sampling

Review

These are strange times, and I am still not convinced that going virtual is the way. Has it afforded us some opportunities we would not have had otherwise? Sure. Has it required us to get creative in ways we could not have imagined? Certainly.

Untold: a collaborative tale of pride and grace

Review

This was a piece that did not feel as though it existed musically as a complete score but more so in the gathering of people together, in the physicality of the performance space, and in the unknowable magic that occurs in the moment of performance itself.

Intimate Voix humaine provides a way forward

Review

How do you stage something that is so static in tableau and also has so few characters? And more to the point, how does a company stage it in a time when theaters are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Renée Fleming Brings A New Luster To Dumbarton Oaks

Review

Renée Fleming knows her audience, or in this case, the lack of one. Creating a sense of intimate occasion in the elegant music salon at Dumbarton Oaks, a Georgetown estate with a musical pedigree of its own, Fleming made her contribution to the Metropolitan Opera's MET Stars Live streaming concert series feel like a musical get-together.

The concessions we make for live opera: Tosca goes up at Northern Lights Music Festival

Review

With no performances scheduled in the United States scheduled for the next six months will there still be an audience? I think so, and I hope so. Cautious performances like those put on by Northern Lights are essential to keeping the spirit of opera alive in the United States. Let us hope for more innovation and live music making in the coming months.

Watch a George Crumb music video & meet the artists: Chordless launches new project

Review

Chordless has created an intriguing piece of art with this Crumb video, and it'll be a neat experience to view it, and then have an immediate face-to-face (or screen-to-screen) with the folks who made it.

Opera Atelier's Together/Apart a direct line to their great artists

Review

A total treat, though, was pianist Angela Hewitt's bit of Rameau. She was friendly and humble, and got right to the point with her camera angle, aimed at her energetic and nimble hands. Hewitt's contribution showed us how this whole thing can work well; it's solidified my hunch that finding the way to do this on-screen thing is uniquely difficult for opera singers.