B’way, Opera Join In Chicago Lyric’s ‘Sound of Music’
By Nancy Malitz
CHICAGO -- An ambitious venture into the golden era of Rodgers and Hammerstein pursues an increasingly recognized connection between the mid-century American musical and the European tradition of operetta.
Holocaust Concert Celebrates Music As Remembrance
By Philippa Kiraly
SEATTLE – It's been 16 seasons since Mina Miller began to present Music of Remembrance chamber music concerts memorializing Kristallnacht and the Holocaust. These concerts are like no others.
Poignant Baroque ‘St. Matthew’ Gets An Airing At Last
By Adeline Sire
BOSTON – Lutenist Paul O'Dette tried to introduce Johann Sebastiani's Passion According to Saint Matthew in 1997, but he had to wait until last weekend to realize his dream at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall.
Wildly Inventive ‘Rheingold’ Opens ‘Ring’ In Houston
By Mike Greenberg
HOUSTON – Is it opera? Is it film? Is it circus? Yes. And the miraculous, acrobatic European production of Richard Wagner's 'Das Rheingold,' in its U.S. debut by Houston Grand Opera, is also politically fearless.
Sarasota Opera’s Verdi Project Sets the Standard with ‘Jérusalem’
By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?
"Jérusalem," Sarasota Opera's latest entry in its Verdi Cycle, is a satisfying, often thrilling production.CD/DVD Roundup: Haydn, Heggie, Britten & Vivaldi
By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?
CD/DVD Reviews: New releases of Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Heggie's Moby-Dick, Britten's Cello Symphony and Vivaldi's Four Seasons
‘Flying Dutchman’ Weathers Rough Seas In Sarasota
By Roy C. Dicks
SARASOTA, Fla. – Florida's plucky, adventurous Sarasota Opera opened its 2014 Winter Festival with Wagner's 'Der Fliegende Holländer,' in a production that had a number of gratifying moments and as many that missed the mark.
Sarasota’s Verdi Crusade Advances With ‘Jérusalem’
Bv John Fleming
SARASOTA, Fla. – Where would an obscure 19th-century opera be the most anticipated work of the season? Only at Sarasota Opera, and only if it's Verdi. This year, 'Jérusalem' fits the all-Verdi plan begun in 1989.
Met’s ‘Prince Igor’ An Exotic Romp Amid The Poppies
By Leslie Kandell
NEW YORK - A vivid new production of Alexander Borodin's 'Prince Igor' directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov returns the massive Russian work to the Metropolitan Opera repertoire for the first time since 1917.
Choruses Outshine Pale Repertoire In Toronto Showcase
By Colin Eatock
TORONTO - Three of Canada's best choral ensembles combined into a 60-voice "super choir" of supple flexibility to perform music of Latvian composer Uģis Prauliņš and counterparts from Finland, Poland, Norway and Canada.
Did Fleming Play Fast, Loose With Anthem? You Bet
By Arthur Kaptainis
A lot of money was riding on the outcome Sunday evening. I refer, of course, to the duration of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as sung by Renée Fleming. One popular over/under betting line was two minutes, 25 seconds.
Handel’s ‘Theodora’ Generously Served By Bicket Forces
By John W. Lambert
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The English Concert is touring the U.S. and Europe with Handel's Theodora, led by Harry Bicket. It's a trans-oceanic artistic endeavor with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street holding up the Yankee side.
Kremer’s Ensemble Honors Peers In Shostakovich Orbit
By Rick Schultz
"It is good to have friends," the Spanish proverb goes, "even in hell." Gidon Kremer, on U.S. tour with Kremerata Baltica, thinks a close bond helped Dmitri Shostakovich and Mieczysław Weinberg thrive in brutal times: "They met in the imagination."
Long Beach Opera Spins Up Ellington Scrap ‘Queenie Pie’
By Richard S. Ginell
SAN PEDRO, CA - It would figure that a musician with the colossal ambition and fearlessness of Duke Ellington would think to write an opera, but few know that he actually did, sort of. Long Beach Opera shows plucky spirit by fleshing out Queenie Pie.
Hilliard Ensemble, On Farewell Tour, Model of Finesse
By Leslie Kandell
NEW YORK - "A cappella male quartet" is a phrase that suggests mellow guys crooning in seersucker jackets and straw boaters. But none of that applies to the Hilliard Ensemble, who are a long way from barbershop. At 40, the group says this year's the last.
Holocaust Specter Haunts Weinberg Opera ‘Passenger’
By Mike Greenberg
HOUSTON - Mieczysław Weinberg’s long-forgotten opera The Passenger, in which a surprise encounter forces a woman to face her Auschwitz past, has arrived at Houston Grand Opera in the premiere production from Bregenz, Warsaw, London and Madrid.
Fine Voices, Wit Buoy ‘Il Trittico’ At Opera Carolina
By Perry Tannenbaum
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Founded in 1948 on a shoestring budget of $125, Opera Carolina is presenting Puccini's "Il trittico" complete for the first time in its 65th anniversary season. But two of its component one-acts are deep in the company's DNA.
Wu Man Presents New Pipa Concerto And Sonoma Glows
By Robert P. Commanday
ROHNERT PARK, CA - The culture gods are smiling on California's Sonoma County. Wu Man gave the U.S. premiere of Zhao Jiping's Concerto No. 2 for Pipa in Weill Hall, where the Santa Rosa Symphony thrives.
Bassoonist LeClair Brings Back-Bench Favorite To Fore
By Gail Wein
NEW YORK - All eyes and ears will be on Judith LeClair, longtime principal bassoon of the New York Philharmonic, when she plays Mozart's Bassoon Concerto with the orchestra Jan. 16-22. This time, she has a brand new cadenza.
