100 years later, Boulanger's opera gets North American premiere
Reviews
Watch a George Crumb music video & meet the artists: Chordless launches new project
ReviewChordless 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
ReviewA 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.
Angel's Bone: I finally saw it and I'm never going to be the same
ReviewHonestly, in that scene where Mr. X.E. takes a cleaver to the angels' wings, I think I had an "aha" moment. I thought I'd experienced that thing where the story is excellent and the music makes it even more excellent, but this moment was something else entirely.
Orlando: gender bending and the sound of androgyny in Vienna
ReviewInstead, composer Olga Neuwirth chose Woolf’s Orlando, her often funny faux-autobiography about a young nobleman in the court of Elizabeth I who awakens one morning as a woman and proceeds to roam about time and space for the next 300 years.
A case for relatable Handel: ABOC's Rinaldo
ReviewI felt like I was actually in a garden surrounded by drooping blossoms, or actually at the opening of a cavernous hole. Throughout I got the sense that this was a production that put a great deal of effort into engaging the senses all at once and imparting an aura of wonderment.
Marian's Song: a poignant, hopeful message
ReviewSome variant of this sentence appears in many a history textbook at some point, but only rarely can it hope to make the sheer impact that Marian's Song did in Houston Grand Opera's world premiere performance.
An enduring Beethoven's Ninth with the Vancouver Academy of Music
ReviewUnder the assured baton of conductor emeritus Leslie Dala, the program brought together the young professional-level orchestra with the veteran vocals of amateur Vancouver Bach Choir, along with four professional soloists, and featured a delightful performance of Concerto No. 4 by Ian Parker at the keys
Agrippina and the elephants in the room
ReviewThis production doesn’t need that dumpster fire when it can rummage through an abundance of its own trash. Quite simply the elephant is an acknowledgment that bad behavior by people in power is timeless.
Solid & simple Così fan tutte from English Touring Opera
ReviewThis performance of Mozart’s Così fan tutte marks the start of English Touring Opera’s spring tour which will also feature Handel’s Giulio Cesare as well as Bach’s St. John Passion in an impressive eighteen cities across the country. ETO’s extensive tours are the direct result of their clear mandate which is to bring accessible opera to cities and theatres across England where it would otherwise not be performed.
How to Fail as a Popstar: a cautionary tale
ReviewAmid performing arts circles, regardless of genre, it's almost too raw for someone who hasn't "made it" to discuss why they "failed". It's easy for us to digest wistful stories of bad producers or embarrassing live shows when they come from the super-famous, like the humbling anecdotes offered to fans by the Taylor Swifts and Lady Gagas of the world.