Leonard reigns as Rosina in WNO's Barber

Review

Leonard's voice is smooth and dark, but simultaneously buoyant and splendidly agile; she is perfectly suited to Rossini, and she appears to love it. If only the staging used her better! She subtly pulled off one of the funniest moments of the evening as she began the cabaletta while genteelly practicing her needlepoint as she sings about being a sweet, obedient young lady, but once she arrives at the all important "ma..." sings "ma se mi toccano dov'è il mio debole" through gritted teeth as she aggressively stabs the sampler with her needle, while the audience roars with laughter.

Opera On Tap's Her Kind: music & a beer

Review

Her Kind opened mysteriously enough as the sopranos entered costumed in dissimilar black outfits, their heads covered in grey veils. Standing strategically around the periphery of the playing area, they produced a polyphonic sound evoking the solemnity and religiosity of Hildegard's composition concerning salvation and the Virgin Mother.

Futuristic Baroque burlesque: Orphée

Review

Undoubtedly, the standout performance of the show goes to the remarkable Company XIV. These six dancers, in some of the most exquisite costuming I've ever seen, moved throughout the show functioning much in the way a Greek chorus would. Their physicality representing the off-stage chorus as well as the virtual one compiled by singers from around the world submitting recordings of themselves.

Uncomfortable premieres: The Mother

Review

I would place Merz and Osborn's opera somewhere in the middle of absurdist and literalist. They attempt to explore the psychological relationship of mother and son through repetitive material and an assertive musical language.

Beloved Bernstein: HGO's West Side Story

Review

HGO hit the nail on the head in making West Side Story come across as a highly successful play with songs, with Jerome Robbins's choreography being by far the lead attraction of the evening in terms of its sheer power of unspoken expression.

Candide: projecting the best of all possible worlds

Review

There is the vexing notion that Bernstein was his own Dr. Pangloss, coaxing himself out of Westphalia into a musical and theatrical breach. If divine providence finally lights the way, it is energized more by the rigorous tug of theatrical absurdity and naive optimism, than Voltaire's satirical bite.

Sweeney Todd: Demon of Disguise

Review

Audiences have been flocking to the Barrow Street Theater, which has been converted into a 135-seat pie shop, for over a year. The producers have the delicious cheek to sell meat pies, by reservation only, prior to each performance. They will be serving up those pies well into the summer.

Distractions & indifference: Opera Omaha's Medea

Review

Cherubini's music suggests that Medea is going out in a blaze of remorseless glory, but nothing manifested in the staging to support this. I wanted to either hate Medea or cheer her on, but I was left feeling indifferent and unsatisfied.

Pacific Opera Victoria's steampunk-meets-fantasy Rinaldo

Review

As they fall asleep, the magical characters of Rinaldo are transported into their living room to enact the story to the children's delight. It's one part steampunk, one part fantasy movie, one part 50s B-movie, and 100% delightful.

Braid "brilliant" in Tosca role debut

Review

Her performance was made more exquisite by the fact she sang the whole aria on the floor, often in positions that would make most voice teachers and coaches cringe. And yet, her sound never suffered, maintaining her presence well above the swell of the orchestra, in nothing short of a world-class performance.