Dead Man Walking makes its Minnesota Opera debut

Review

There were ominous prison guards lurking above the action throughout the whole opera, and a confusing element of the set was the huge American flag, which hung above center stage. What was the message? That Americans are the only ones who deal with capital punishment?

Steps forward for opera's women: Tosca at PBO

Review

In a world where consent is so often coerced – Tosca's world, and ours – it's impossible not to draw comparisons to stories of #MeToo, #TimesUp, and a slew of fallen titans. It's easy to imagine Scarpia as a man who might have a button hidden beneath his desk to lock his office door.

Newly staged: The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Review

The singers gave gripping and intensely theatrical performances. Yet the atmosphere created was meditative, as their judicious movements possessed calm and reserve. The singing was nuanced, if at times a bit uneven. In the tenor Peter Gijsbertsen's highest register, some passages sounded tense and forced, but these were also the moments of most impassioned emotional intensity.

Autobiographical recitals: Joshua Guerrero in the Amphitheatre

Review

It was one of those recitals that really does let you get to know an artist more. He was honest, open, and almost wide-eyed about his art; happily, he has the serious chops to back up the biography.

Clairvoyant art: Enrico at Oper Frankfurt

Review

After suffering trauma to the head while in character as Henry IV, Enrico (Holger Falk) regains consciousness still believing himself to be the 11th century emperor. So as not to rattle him, Enrico's relatives maintain an elaborate lie involving costumes, alternate personas and staff trained to appease him.

Reaching across centuries: Seraphic Fire's the little match girl passion

Review

In his introduction, Quigley explained, "We understand ‘passion' to mean an exploration and a meditation on human suffering." The four works on the program shared this theme of suffering and loss, but Seraphic Fire transformed this superficial thematic similarity into a compelling and heartfelt story, building an innovative, accessible, and deeply moving experience far beyond delineation into categories of time period or genre.

Lighter fare: Vancouver Opera's The Elixir of Love

Review

"Hegedus was brilliant in his comic interplay between the fake face he gives to the other characters and the interjections with his assistant, or his interludes to himself. When he believes his elixir is actually working in Act II, his reactions are incredibly funny, without taking anything away from his beautiful vocal performance."

On a mental precipice: HGO's Elektra

Review

If Strauss had not given Elektra so much deceptively tender waltz music of her own, then Chrysothemis's tender accompaniments (waltzes about mammaries) would come across as a moment of respite; however, by the time Chrysothemis is introduced, we know Elektra so well that nobody comes across as anything else other than a foil to her.

An operatic horror story: Proving Up

Review

This story also asks questions about the very nature of the American Dream. In the clutches of the Sodbuster, Miles is driven to question his entire mission. He asks "Does a window make a home? Does a deed make the land yours?" While these questions might have been better left implied rather than sung out loud, they lead to another question: Who really benefited from America's Manifest Destiny?

The start of something powerful: The Echo Drift

Review

The moth, appealingly mesmerizing, could have a spin-off opera all to itself. Created by individual acrylic paintings set in stop-motion animation, it moves like an insect shadow ricocheting off a porch light on a chilly autumn night in the country.