People in the opera world travel miles to hear a voice like Angela Meade’s. Many made such a pilgrimage Saturday night. In the soprano’s debut in the fully-staged production of Norma at the Washington National Opera, this voice proved pretty spectacular.
Oh, man. Oh, Manon Lescaut!
In the second act, a massive column opens like a giant jewelry box to reveal the quintessential material girl in a glittering gown, as worldly as Jessica Chastain on the Oscar runway. Behind her spread across the entire back of the stage is a painted Baroque sky of swirling clouds and cherubic putti. Oh Man, […]
Hansel and Gretel
If you haven’t heard that Washington has become a great music-theatre center, you haven’t been paying attention. Offerings across the spectrum of styles keep on increasing in breadth and depth, and new audiences are being developed all over town. Now Washington National Opera broadens its scope by launching a “new annual tradition” of holiday fare […]
Glimmerglass Festival Summer 2012 – Armide and The Music Man
– Susan Galbraith reports on the 25th anniversary year of the prestigious Glimmerglass Festival summer opera festival in Cooperstown, New York. –
Lost in the Stars at Glimmerglass
– Susan Galbraith reports on the four productions of Glimmerglass Festival, in Cooperstown, NY, now celebrating its 25th anniversary season. –
Aida at Glimmerglass
The prestigious Glimmerglass Festival leads off its 2012 season with an original and stunning production of Aida, without one elephant sighted except for a giant be-twigged mother-and-baby topiary on the entrance lawn. Instead, Artistic Director Francesca Zambello has seized on the themes of global conflict and in particular the casualties of war and policies of […]
Carmen at Castleton
Carmen, the second opera of Castleton Festival’s 2012 season, aired after Friday’s storm left performers, staff, and crew with a cancelled scheduled opening and, for many, 72 hours without power and running water. The amazing thing was that this duck (Castleton) not only kept on paddling but that it could quack at all.
Castleton Festival, a triumph midst the Grand Storm
Now in its fourth season, Castleton has blossomed into an artistically first rate festival and conservatory program that stands proudly beside stalwart organizations like Glimmerglass, Tanglewood, and Wolf Trap.
Nabucco
Verdi’s first major operatic hit, Nabucco, opened this weekend at the Kennedy Center in a sumptuous new Washington National Opera production by American director and designer Thaddeus Strassberger. The visual spectacle of the first two acts carried both story and directorial concept, evoking Biblical spectacles painted on great canvases, in static yet strikingly heroic composition.
Postcard from Morocco and Miss Havisham’s Fire
A comprehensive and stunning celebration of composer Dominick Argento’s work is being presented at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and it simply should not be missed.
Positions 1956
UrbanArias has not only landed once more in our midst, but opened its second season and first commissioned opera Sunday night to a full house. This world premiere of Positions 1956 with music by Conrad Cummings and lyrics by Michael Korie showcases two mature professionals at the top of their game, completely at ease in […]
Cosi fan tutte, so fresh the evening becomes a romp at Washington National Opera
Così fan tutte is one of Mozart’s less popular works and is revered more amongst the cognoscenti than general audiences. Despite its beautiful music, the story has always seemed thin to me, the plot hard to sustain convincingly for its length. Acclaimed director and designer Jonathan Miller has reset this classic tale of love and […]