(Photo credit: Ryan Harper) Opera Revue is a company made of three talented individuals: soprano Danie Friesen, baritone Alexander Hajek, and the sonic backbone of it all, pianist Elise Harris. Their mission, they say, is to introduce opera to newcomers and deliver a fresh way to experience it for veterans in a relaxed environment at an affordable price. My attitude {…}
(Photo: Andrea Butti) The year 1896 marked a pivotal moment in the history of Italian opera with the debut of two titles that would come to define the global operatic repertoire. On February 1, the Teatro Regio di Torino hosted the premiere of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” while just weeks later, on March 28, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan was {…}
(Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera) Whether Nietzsche actually meant it when he declared Bizet’s “Carmen” to be the perfect opera, or whether it was merely a literary tantrum aimed at his once-beloved Richard Wagner, it matters not. The resounding overture to “Carmen” provides its own argument as to the opera’s justified and beloved place in the canon. Love is a {…}
(Photo: Stefano Binci) Maiolati, a small Italian municipality of just six thousand inhabitants located in the province of Ancona, at the heart of Italy, preserves an important cultural legacy. In this serene village, Gaspare Spontini was born in 1774, a composer who, during his time, achieved extraordinary fame and recognition. However, over the years, his name and works have gradually {…}
(Photo: Patricio Cassinoni) History has not been kind to Charles Villiers Stanford’s reputation as an opera composer. During his lifetime he wrote nine complete operas, which, apart from his comic opera “Seamus O’Brien,” was met with limited success. Today, they are rarely performed, and none have found their way into the mainstream repertoire. In 2019, the Wexford Festival Opera produced {…}
(Photo: BrettBoardman) Undoubtedly, Sydney is coming of age as a culturally vibrant city, with thought-provoking, often superior productions of concerts, musicals, plays and operas. This long-awaited but most welcomed process is well illustrated by two excellent opera performances within less than a week that would be hailed anywhere in the world: a few days after Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” had {…}
(Photo: Elisa Haberer / Opéra national de Paris) I sensed two ghosts on the stage of Opéra Bastille last night. Don’t worry—they were as nice as ghosts can be. In fact, they were so congenial that they enhanced the operatic experience, turning what would have been a merely jolly evening into a thought-provoking one. The problem is, no matter how {…}
(Photo by Rikimaru Hotta) The New National Theatre Tokyo is on the rise. Fresh off its announcement earlier this year that the company would be hosting the 2028 World Opera Forum, the organization has committed to expanding its repertory in recent seasons, taking on increasingly ambitious projects, oftentimes in collaboration with the major opera houses around the world. Over the {…}
Every production at the Donizetti Opera Festival has its specialty and purpose. One (this year, “Roberto Devereux”) is a serious production of the highest quality, another is a rare piece (this time “Zoraida di Granata,” which also took a stand to bring the most serious and painful topics to the stage), and another is fun and delightful. So, when you {…}