Chiaroscuro classics: The Marriage of Figaro

Review

Even with the dark elements, the piece did not lose its comic lightness. It was still an evening full of laughs and slapstick, but the more serious aspects were brought forth. Along with this unexpected episode, Mortellaro's characterization of Susanna in the final two acts deviated from the common chipper portrayal of this sassy maid. She was a bride-to-be who truly didn't want to go along with the Countess' plan to trap the Count.

Talking with pianists: James Cheung

Interview

"Playing the piano alongside and merging with a living, breathing instrument makes this the most intimate way of making music I've experienced and that kind of intimacy is something I sought for a long time in music."

A luminous Lucia at Florida Grand Opera

Review

Soprano Haeran Hong in the title role was superb. Her performance from start to finish was a spellbinding display of virtuosity and musical imagination; her mad scene cadenza felt effortless, almost improvised. She captured a range of emotion and colour to rival the soaring range of notes — flawlessly executed — that comprise Donizetti's challenging score.

Talking with composers: Mark Adamo

Interview

What's your style?" is a famously unanswerable question. I can certainly talk about values, which other opera creators may share, or not. Certainly I'm a composer who would rather give the illusion of working in close-up, rather than longshot; by which I mean that I want my music to sound as if it is inflected — no, as if it is generated — by the character who's singing it, rather than generated by some preconceived orchestral plot or procedure.

Persona and the Sounds of Silence

Review

It's Alma, played by mezzo-soprano Crider who must carry the show on her musical shoulders and she delivers a stunning performance, both as singer and as actress. Crider doesn't miss a beat capturing the emotional complexity of Alma's character while traversing the complexity of Keeril Makan's score.

Emotional nights with the TSO

Review

AFGHANISTAN: Requiem for A Generation was not only a solemn concert to remember those men and women who have served, and just as importantly - continue to serve, in our Armed Forces, but also to remember those whose lives are touched by war. It was equal parts celebratory for our freedoms, respectful that we still have a way to go, and reverent to those who have gone before us.

Thomas Paine in Violence "must be witnessed."

Review

Enthroned eight feet off the ground, she presides like an oracle. Below is bedlam. Four hyperactive, dapper, brown men run her subconscious. The "Manchorus" (played tirelessly by Paul Pinto, Andrew Mayer, Christian Luu, and Eddie Rodriguez Jr.) frenetically shuffles about, sharply turning and gesturing, maneuvering papers, tables, panels, electronics, and punctuating Paine's speeches with tight, high, vocal stabs for dramatic and comedic effect.

Ryan McKinny: Modern meaning in a Gold Rush-era opera

Interview

"I know it's expensive to put on opera and we want people to buy tickets, but to me the success of a piece lies in its ability to touch people deeply and open their eyes to a new perspective on themselves and the world. To that end, I think you need artists who are not only great at their craft but also give of themselves totally and have insight into the state of being human."

"Truly gripping": Die Walküre at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Review

This is a dark and ponderous tale that is driven by the psychologies of the handful of principal characters who share between themselves several lengthy dialogues. Wagner's worlds are inherently immense and overly ambitious (that is, garish) productions of his Ring in particular merely distract.

An extended mad scene: Glory Denied

Review

This work does succeed in its desire, as the composer explained in a talkback, to give an idea of the angst of the time period for the current generation, and it does successfully highlight the plight of disregard for veterans' care that casts a pall over the legacy of our great nation.