Elza van den Heever and the MET Orchestra: A stunning all-Strauss program
Reviews
Stemme's Elektra visible in every wild look and lurching step
ReviewEvery facet of this production is thoughtful and dramatic, so much so that even the actors aren't immune from its terrors. It was announced before curtain that Stemme sustained a knee injury during a rehearsal (one look at the steeply raked set and you'll wonder the whole cast isn't on crutches!).
All too rare: Hannigan takes the podium with the Cleveland Orchestra
ReviewHannigan's well received turn at the podium, met by an immediate and unanimous standing ovation, should serve to demonstrate to the Cleveland Orchestra, and to classical music institutions across the continent and around the globe, that making an effort to include and elevate marginalized perspectives holds significance well beyond meeting a quota or "catching up with the times."
Bucking trends: Hook Up
ReviewIt was at times Sondheim, at times Schwartz, at times Bernstein, but the overarching feeling (to me) was akin to Adam Guettel's masterpiece A Light in the Piazza.
Expressionist nuance: Elektra at the COC
ReviewWhat can one possibly say about Christine Goerke in this role and still do justice to the kind of singing we experienced on Saturday night? Her vocal range is not of this dimension and her finesse to Strauss' bombastic score is something to be witnessed in person.
So true it hurts: Hook Up
ReviewThe party scene put a pit in my stomach, as did everything that came after. The confusion, the horrid feeling of not knowing - but kind of knowing - what happened during a blackout, the inadequate explanations to friends and boyfriends, it was all too true.
A real woman shines through reductive Traviata in Palm Beach
ReviewLike the jewels she wore (and there were many), soprano Kristina Mkhitaryan sparkled in the starring role, singing with agility, clarity, and show-stopping emotional depth. Her soft, liquid entrances in "Addio, del passato" melded impeccably with the plaintive oboe solo.
There was a lot of drama: the LPO's Die Walküre
ReviewThis semi-staged production at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra had none of that. Well, except for the drama. There was a lot of drama.
Slapstick overload: The Italian Straw Hat
ReviewAt times the stage was so overcrowded with schtick it was overwhelming. Banana jokes, chamber pot humor and smoke machines did not add to the talents of the cast or the beauty of the music.
The women rule in FGO's Figaro
ReviewFlorida Grand Opera's Le nozze di Figaro, which opened on January 26 at the Adrienne Arsht Centre in Miami, took an uncharacteristically introspective look at this iconic comedic favourite, in a production that asked all the right questions, but sacrificed some laughs along the way.
A staggering team effort: Star Wars in concert
ReviewThe crowd, full of fans of all ages, shared a level of love and nostalgia for the work of John Williams and George Lucas that rivals opera fans' loyalty to Verdi and Wagner.