Reviews

Bucking trends: Hook Up

Bucking trends: Hook Up

It was at times Sondheim, at times Schwartz, at times Bernstein, but the overarching feeling (to me) was akin to Adam Guettel's masterpiece A Light in the Piazza.

Greg Finney
Expressionist nuance: Elektra at the COC

Expressionist nuance: Elektra at the COC

What can one possibly say about Christine Goerke in this role and still do justice to the kind of singing we experienced on Saturday night? Her vocal range is not of this dimension and her finesse to Strauss' bombastic score is something to be witnessed in person.

Greg Finney
So true it hurts: Hook Up

So true it hurts: Hook Up

The party scene put a pit in my stomach, as did everything that came after. The confusion, the horrid feeling of not knowing - but kind of knowing - what happened during a blackout, the inadequate explanations to friends and boyfriends, it was all too true.

Jenna Simeonov
A real woman shines through reductive Traviata in Palm Beach

A real woman shines through reductive Traviata in Palm Beach

Like the jewels she wore (and there were many), soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan sparkled in the starring role, singing with agility, clarity, and show-stopping emotional depth. Her soft, liquid entrances in "Addio, del passato" melded impeccably with the plaintive oboe solo.

Carly Gordon
There was a lot of drama: the LPO's Die Walküre

There was a lot of drama: the LPO's Die Walküre

This semi-staged production at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra had none of that. Well, except for the drama. There was a lot of drama.

Alessia Naccarato
Slapstick overload: The Italian Straw Hat

Slapstick overload: The Italian Straw Hat

At times the stage was so overcrowded with schtick it was overwhelming. Banana jokes, chamber pot humor and smoke machines did not add to the talents of the cast or the beauty of the music.

Callie Cooper
The women rule in FGO's Figaro

The women rule in FGO's Figaro

Florida Grand Opera's Le nozze di Figaro, which opened on January 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Centre in Miami, took an uncharacteristically introspective look at this iconic comedic favourite, in a production that asked all the right questions, but sacrificed some laughs along the way.

Carly Gordon
A staggering team effort: Star Wars in concert

A staggering team effort: Star Wars in concert

The crowd, full of fans of all ages, shared a level of love and nostalgia for the work of John Williams and George Lucas that rivals opera fans' loyalty to Verdi and Wagner.

Jenna Simeonov
Florencia en el Amazonas takes on a life of its own at HGO

Florencia en el Amazonas takes on a life of its own at HGO

Martínez's inimitable dulcet vibrato tones had a way of embodying the butterflies into which her character eventually transforms. Anybody wanting an avenue to approach this opera would do well to begin with her music, which offers this opera's most audible links with the traditional Puccinian repertoire which is her specialty.

Andrew Schneider
Constructive frustration from ROH's Queen of Spades

Constructive frustration from ROH's Queen of Spades

I think it is a good thing to have my sensibilities questioned. An opera score does not always need to be taken at face value and can be up to individual interpretation.

Alessia Naccarato

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