Vivaldi & Others: Gioachino Rossini—The Manic-Depressive Swan of Pesaro Kees Vlaardingerbroek March 10, 2024 The ‘serious’ Rossini still does not get the appreciation he deserves in the opera world.
Brilliant Tosca Opens New Palm Beach Opera Season Paul du Quenoy February 25, 2024 The highlight was soprano Anastasia Bartoli, who shined in a stellar cast and in an overall enthralling performance.
Somber Tannhäuser Revival Has Highs and Lows Paul du Quenoy February 5, 2024 The brilliant soloists at the Met were underserved by a worn production and subpar conducting.
Vivaldi & Others: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi—the Italian Mozart Kees Vlaardingerbroek January 28, 2024 A consequence of Pergolesi’s posthumous fame: publishers sold works by other composers under Pergolesi’s commercially attractive name.
The End of the World on the Danube: Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung at the Hungarian State Opera Paul du Quenoy December 28, 2023 A nearly all-Hungarian cast delivered the production with a skill that should, in most cases, make the singers internationally famous.
Mefistofele Haunts Rome Paul du Quenoy December 23, 2023 In our nihilistic age, Boito’s Mefistofele may be primed for a comeback.
Salvation in Goethe and Gounod Shawn Phillip Cooper December 21, 2023 Faust’s salvation, as with humanity’s, comes only in time.
Triumph of an Old Classic at La Scala: Montemezzi’s L’Amore dei Tre Re Paul du Quenoy December 16, 2023 In this operatic wonder, the characters’ passions are otherworldly in their intensity.
A Pale Revival of a Ghostly Classic: Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met Paul du Quenoy November 5, 2023 The passion is palpable, but there is a smallness to the sets that cools the fire in the characters’ souls.
Scandinavian Starlight: Lise Davidsen in Recital at the Met Opera Paul du Quenoy September 24, 2023 The recital left the overall impression of a solid and earnest singer with strong ambitions that may well be fulfilled in the march of time.
