Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Returning after a COVID hiatus, the 25th/26th Beijing Music Festival promises to be as enlightening and impressive as ever.
Read More »Beijing Music Festival Returns with 24 Days of Music, Opera, and Multimedia
Tag Archives: opera
Opera Review: ‘American One Acts’ – ‘Highway 1, USA’ by William Grant Still, ‘Down in the Valley’ by Kurt Weill
One by an African American composer, the other by a Jewish immigrant, these two one-act operas can both be seen as quintessentially American.
Read More »Opera Review: Puccini’s ‘Il Tabarro’ from On Site Opera at South Street Seaport, NYC
The adventurous opera company sets Puccini's tale of a barge outdoors at the edge of Manhattan where seagoing commerce once thrived.
Read More »Opera Review (NYC): ‘Lady M’ – a New Adaptation of Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ from Heartbeat Opera
Rife with stagecraft, physicality, and superb singing and acting, 'Lady M' is a mesmerizing stripped-down re-imagining of Verdi's opera 'Macbeth.'
Read More »Opera Review (NYC): Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ Reimagined by Heartbeat Opera
Gleaming voices, exceptional acting, and Puccini's endlessly wonderful music make this a worthy production regardless of the trimming-down and the conceptual trappings.
Read More »Concert Opera Review: Richard Strauss, ‘Daphne’ – American Symphony Orchestra and Soloists, 23 March 2023
Strauss's rarely heard 'Daphne' gets a superb concert performance led by Leon Botstein with a top-notch cast of soloists and musicians.
Read More »Music Reviews: Hélène Grimaud, Konstantin Krimmel – ‘Silent Songs’ (Art Songs of Valentin Silvestrov); Marie-Eve Munger – ‘Maestrino Mozart,’ Early Arias
A baritone, a soprano, an orchestra, and pianist Hélène Grimaud offer music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov and the young Mozart.
Read More »Opera Review (NYC): ‘Kings, Giants & Robots’ – Works by Victoria Bond, Herschel Garfein, Robert Paterson (13 May 2022)
A puppet Gulliver, a powerful poem by Stanley Kunitz, and an android tenor add up to a grand evening of opera and solo voice.
Read More »Exclusive Interview: Conductor Gerard Schwarz on World Premiere of Michael Dellaira Opera ‘The Leopard’ (‘Il Gattopardo’) with Frost Opera and Symphony
The world-renowned conductor spoke with us about the upcoming world premiere, in which he leads student musicians and singers along with professionals.
Read More »Opera Review (NYC): Heartbeat Opera Confronts America’s Racial Reckoning Through Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’
A stunning adaptation that addresses America's 21st-century racial reckoning.
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