Author Archive

Knussen conducts Knussen and Russian novelties with Boston Symphony – Apr 14, 2013

Although it’s only mid-April, the musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra may have been smelling the pine needles Friday night, as their longtime Tanglewood [...]

After sedate start, Muti’s Bach eventually reaches the summit – Apr 12, 2013

Muti’s back with Bach. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director returned to the CSO podium Thursday night for the first of three weeks of [...]

Chicago Lyric’s “mariachi opera” offers thin musical salsa – Apr 08, 2013

Under the aegis of general director Anthony Freud, the Lyric Opera of Chicago has been making a concerted effort to draw new audiences to [...]

An excellent cast triumphs over the machine in Met’s “Rheingold” – Apr 07, 2013

Someone involved with the Robert Lepage staging of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Metropolitan Opera must have done something nasty in [...]

Gatti closes New York season with more memorable Wagner, this time with Boston Symphony – Apr 06, 2013

Daniele Gatti’s triumphant New York season, which wrapped up Friday evening at Carnegie Hall, brings to mind something that A. Bartlett Giamatti wrote about [...]

Met’s witty, opulent “Cesare” proves a vocal and visual delight – Apr 05, 2013

With David McVicar’s spirited take on Giulio Cesare, an opulent and vibrant world where British imperialism and raja images represent the Roman conquest of [...]

Lyric Opera’s inspired cast and artful staging can’t make the case for Previn’s pallid “Streetcar” – Mar 27, 2013

Despite all the voluminous press releases and ink that has been spilled since Renée Fleming’s appointment as creative consultant at the Lyric Opera of Chicago [...]

Met’s Atomic Age “Faust” still a directorial nuclear bomb – Mar 22, 2013

Des McAnuff’s 2011 production of Faust returned to New York City’s Metropolitan Opera Thursday night, without the heavy-hitting cast and conductor who were the [...]

Verdi’s delightful “Un giorno” fit for a king at Sarasota Opera – Mar 20, 2013

Sarasota has been ground zero for Giuseppe Verdi aficionados in the U.S., with the local company’s ambitious series of the composer’s complete operas, including [...]

Sarasota Opera closes its American series with a devastating “Of Mice and Men” – Mar 18, 2013

In the final tragic moments of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, a handsome, well-dressed woman began quietly weeping, continuing without letup until the [...]