Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
MetHD Live, October 5, 2013
MetHD Encore, October 9, 2013
Cinemark, Palo Alto, CAÂ Continue reading
Before I start my review, I want to make it clear where I am coming from. I like the music of George Frideric Handel but Continue reading
Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss
MetHD Live, January 9, 2010
Met HD Encore, January 27, 2010
MetHD Summer Encore, July 25, 2012
Cinemark, Palo Alto, CA Continue reading
I have just seen the MetHD Encore performance of Willy Decker’s stunning production of Verdi’s La Traviata, having had to miss the Live performance on April 14, 2012. Writing a review after the final performance (both the HD and the Lincoln Center held their final performance today, May 2, 2012) has one distinct advantage. Continue reading
Manon is an opera that grows on me. I like it and appreciate it more every time I see it. I’m sure I saw it in the years before I started writing opera reviews, but if I did, it did not make a lasting impression. Continue reading
It seemed like old home week as I settled into my comfortable seat at CinÉArts @ Palo Alto Square Theatre at 8:55 AM Saturday morning, February 11, 2012 to begin six hours of immersion in wonderful music and cosmic story-telling. Sara, Letha Ann, Bruce, and Ellen were with me, as they had been for most of the first three installments of The Ring of the Nibelung: Das Rheingold, Die Walké¼re, and Siegfried. Continue reading
You won’t find The Enchanted Island listed in any opera book published previous to this year, because the World Premiere was three weeks ago on New Year’s Eve, 2011-12. Continue reading
The visual part of the opera begins before the curtain goes up. A much-larger-than-life photograph of a woman’s head is displayed in the center of the curtain. In black-and white, slightly impressionistic, with haunting eyes staring directly at you. In complete repose, but not static. The eyes may close; the angle may shift. It is always there, whenever the curtain is about to open. It is, of course, the face of Marina Poplavskaya in her role as Marguerite. Continue reading
RenÉe Fleming is everything. She is a great actress with a beautiful soprano voice; she is a wonderful hostess Continue reading
