On day's notice, duo is ideal recital replacement

Review

Ms. Karg reassured the audience that she had recently performed the two Debussy sets anchoring her program – for this year's centenary of his death – though never with pianist Simon Lepper (her usual collaborator, the eminent Gerold Huber, was booked). Ms. Karg and Mr. Lepper had never shared the stage before Tuesday night.

Idealistic & lavish: Simon Boccanegra at ROH

Review

But I was completely captivated by Ferruccio Furlanetto's Fiesco. He was the aged, revenge-hungry villain whilst still being able to inspire pity. And though it was a voice approaching the end of a long career, he had such a commanding and assured presence on stage that one couldn't help but be carried along with him.

Transformation: BOUND v. 2

Review

Although this iteration seems to be much more of a display of the the transformation of the score in particular, I did miss the theatricality of the original staging. I missed the solitary cells, the cold ambiance, the interrogations by the state.

History-making cast in Chicago's Il trovatore

Review

The performance was something truly special and memorable. Last night, I understood what it must have been like to have heard the likes of Pavarotti, Milnes, Horne, and Sutherland. Just as those artists had defined the canonic Verdi roles for their generation, the cast of this Trovatore at LOC is poised to set a new standard for this repertoire.

True impact: DMMO's Glory Denied

Review

This is Des Moines Metro Opera's second opera performed at Camp Dodge, and I hope it will not be the last. Aside from the physical location, the collaboration with the military community produces numerous benefits. The participation of veterans and active duty service members in the post-show panel discussion helped to bridge the gap between theater and reality.

A chilling cry of warning: ENO's War Requiem

Review

It is a piece that could have been so unabashedly English but instead it was a nationless, chilling cry of warning. It was a perverted mockery of the dangerous, power hungry nature of war. It was one long, beautiful moment of extended prayer.

Juilliard's Turn

Review

The singers are works-in-excellent-progress, with the exception of Mr. Sy who is already "ready for the big time." Mr. Sy possesses an extraordinary tenor instrument that switches easily and constantly from forte to pianissimo, and from full voice to falsetto.

Recording Dame Smyth: "Pretty good - for a woman."

News

Predictably, Smyth's music has not received the same recognition and appreciation as that of her male contemporaries like Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Grieg. "Pretty good - for a woman," was among the tiring sentiments by critics of Smyth's day.

"Star-cross'd lovers" cross artistic lines in new co-production

Interview

"I'm glad that Charles Gounod is a French composer because I can understand the opera in my own language. In many ways, Gounod's score is so far away from the Prokofiev score. Prokofiev's music is imminently danceable, the chords and harmonizations are rich and original. But Prokofiev's score is very dark while Gounod infuses a lot of colour, humour and drama."

Schoenberg in Hollywood & a heap of excess

Review

Alas, if only the final product understood the virtues of restraint! Its frequent dips into genre-based excess often veered into garish, meandering displays that more often than not proved so distracting it lost sight of the work's soul.