Constructive frustration from ROH's Queen of Spades

Review

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.

Opera + art = storytelling: a must-see event at Boston's Gardner Museum

Interview

"The stories of Lucretia and Virginia, gruesome and tragic, were seen by audiences of the Renaissance as stories of women's battles against tyranny. These stories of these women's heroic battles seem particularly apt and poignant at present. Botticelli's paintings illustrate these alarming and urgent stories with vividness."

Haroun and the Sea of Stories a surreal, timely treat

Review

It is always tricky to adapt a book about storytelling to any medium outside of the written word, and it is even more difficult when you deal with a work which wears its political overtones like a badge of pride.

Uneven Scarlet Ibis Meditative To A Fault

Review

Unfortunately, Weisman's score does not always meet the standard that Cote sets. The issue is that Weisman's music is often relatively one-note if something of little dramatic import is going on.

Familiar stories: Hook Up

Editorial

Composer Chris Thornborrow, librettist Julie Tepperman, and director/dramaturge Richard Greenblatt, dare to tell an uncomfortably familiar story that, today, is full of the themes that permeate every news story and piece of media we consume.

A long-standing tradition: La traviata at ROH

Review

Sitting in the audience, I had the feeling I was part of a long standing tradition, one that dates back to 1858 when the opera was first performed at Covent Garden.

Charlie Siem: "Music is about sharing and healing."

Interview

Siem's concert is part of TUCCA's ongoing Music for a Cure concert series, which has traveled internationally, and comes to the UK for the first time in collaboration with INCTR and CARF-UK.

A report from the NOA conference in Salt Lake City

Op-Ed

Last week's National Opera Association conference in Salt Lake City was filled with informative sessions, vocal and scenes competitions, their biannual one act opera competition, and achievement awards for Harolyn Blackwell and Stephen Lord. 

Talking with singers: Jared Bybee

Interview

Bybee sings the Pilot, opposite 11-year-old Nitai Fluchel in the title role. We spoke with Bybee about working on this opera, and his unexpected path to a singing career.

Wolf in 2019: the latest from Roxanna Walitzki

Editorial

Shot in the salt flats of Utah by visual artist Redd Walitzki, Roxanna has created an original arrangement of Hugo Wolf's "Verborgenheit" ("Concealment").