Elza van den Heever and the MET Orchestra: A stunning all-Strauss program
Reviews
There's a place for us at LOC's West Side Story
ReviewEven though, of course, I knew of this story's roots in Romeo and Juliet, I was nonetheless shocked and heartbroken by these characters' deaths in the Rumble scene and then watching the rapid unraveling of Maria and Tony's lives in Act II.
Fascinating insight: rough for opera #17
ReviewWe are talking about an indeterminate and ever-changing tradition that has been developing for over four hundred years. Perhaps it is time to cast form aside entirely and explore where it is headed for the future.
Two different servings from the Opera Fest menu
ReviewBrooklyn-based Regina Opera has taken on Verdi's Il Trovatore and though they clearly have limited resources, they have staged a first-rate, fully-realized production.
Hearing the Seldom Seen
ReviewThe singers playfully (or angrily) splash about, shoot each other with squirt guns and finally land dead in the (unheated) water for the violent finale.
Alkema a world-class Tosca at WNO
ReviewTo me, Tosca is just about a perfect piece of theater. I think it's funny that it often gets dismissed as absurdly over-the-top melodrama, especially in this moment in time when Game of Thrones is so wildly popular, and the latest Avengers instalment is the highest grossing movie in theaters.
A very Canadian La bohème: the latest in Opera for Toronto
ReviewThe preparation for this single show can stretch over an entire season, with input from the multiple teachers and coaches who come to work with the young artists throughout the year.
Installation Handmaid's Tale a dramatic, chilling staging
ReviewThere is so much to like musically because Ruders stays true to Atwood's novel while finding time to let the music tell the drama on its own that it is indeed a good thing that it has finally found its cultural moment.
Sanitized tragedy: La traviata in Minnesota
ReviewVioletta's most vulnerable moments were during the overtures behind a scrim. In the initial overture Violetta was seen revving herself up for the party between coughing fits, and before the final act Violetta dreams that Alfredo is still with her.
Pomakov a dominating devil in Vancouver Opera's Faust
ReviewThe austere, dark sets and costuming were paired with relatively austere stage direction from François Racine. While the intention may have been to let the music speak for itself, in this case it seemed to slow the pace of the show, and gave the performers little to do on stage.
Vancouver Opera's Storybook Perfect Cenerentola
ReviewRossini is incredibly unforgiving in his lighting-fast patter, overlapping harmonies, and blistering tempi in the ensembles, and every single one was perfectly precise, executed flawlessly, and were still all funny, evocative, and playful.