Fuelled by female oppression: Written on Skin

Review

The music develops in parallel to the narrative, twisting and turning in response to the events portrayed. From the subtle, gliding arcs of the strings during the seduction to the terrifying crescendos accompanying The Boy's murder, the score varies immensely. Benjamin is especially gifted at disseminating horror, the overwhelming psychological intensity of the opera's key moments becoming almost unbearable.

The TSO pays homage to Maureen Forrester

Review

Forrester became known for her interpretations of Mahler and for her professional relationship with the composer's protegé Bruno Walter, so it's no surprise to find the composer on the program. After the intermission, German-Canadian tenor Michael Schade joined Ms. Platts for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), one of the composer's best loved works.

For kids & grown-ups alike: The Scorpion's Sting

Review

It must be a difficult task, to write a work specifically for young people that does not come off as overly moralistic or saccharine. Happily, the gist of The Scorpions' Sting - the power of forgiveness and the importance of teamwork - avoids sentimentality by being genuinely funny, (alternating effectively between sarcasm and overt goofiness).

Luxury at arm's length: Arabella

Review

A woman with a spine is somewhat of a rare find in opera, and so it's hard to admit that Arabella is a woman who warrants very little empathy - even from this female reviewer. Arabella's insistence on waiting for the "right man" among her train of suitors is something that's admirable and surprisingly contemporary even for this 1932 opera.

An isolated tenor in an operatic masterwork: Les contes d'Hoffmann

Review

This production's prologue opened with a sequence of generic opera tropes that undermined the opera's quality. One cliché followed another: a bad silent-movie love-pantomime, uninspired park and bark narration, a silly "Oliver Twist" money pouch, muggy chorus acting, and way too many people standing on tables. This brand of stale opera is what convinces people the form is dying.

Polish composers take the stage at Wigmore Hall

Review

After intermission, the pair played a short work by Mikołaj Górecki, son of the famous Henryk. The piece was called "Farewell" and though it was undeniably beautiful, it seemed to be over almost before it began. It was performed in a way that was tender and almost sentimental, but balanced with a little bit of a bite. Poster was particularly lovely in this work, nuancing every shape. Their communication as a pair was more obvious in the comparative simplicity of this work, something which was lovely to see on stage.

Nabucco is hard to find in the latest LA Opera production

Review

Yes, there was a Verdi opera somewhere in those three and a half hours - and we got to see brilliant flashes at times of what the show should and could have been - but mostly we had to wade through a lot of concept and conceit to get there. It wasn't until Act IV (the final act) that our wishes came true: singing, acting and staging that actually touched the audience, and touched us deeply.

A grand night out at Vancouver Opera's Turandot

Review

Given the size of the Chinese community in Vancouver, tackling Turandot is not only an ambitious project, but a potentially controversial one. However VO dealt with the controversies head-on, talking extensively in the program about the accusations of "Orientalism" in the score, and how they wanted to address those for a modern audience, and how these kinds of dialogues will continue to inform productions for years to come.

"A problematic creaky old masterpiece": Les vêpres siciliennes

Review

I don't understand why we haven't critically and fundamentally re-read all of these classic operas. I am a huge fan of modernising the way we produce opera, but I think has to include radical re-readings of characters and scenarios, not just new costuming and concepts.

He said/she said: a sweet Elixir at the COC

Review

Haji's Nemorino didn't whine or pine; instead, he took the refreshing route of unashamed honesty, piquing Adina's curiosity by being one of the few (only?) men in her life who presents himself as just that - himself. It brought to mind that line from The Office, when Kelly Kapoor muses, "I mean, who says exactly what they're thinking? What kind of game is that?"