VIEWPOINTS – TEATRO NUOVO tastefully mounts a pair of rarely-performed bel canto operas, delivering inspired music-making and unforced theater

This past week on two consecutive nights at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the upstart opera company Teatro Nuovo – which specializes in resuscitating the bel canto … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Under the baton of maestro Nézet-Séguin, the mighty MET ORCHESTRA performs a glorious rendition of Brahms’ “German Requiem”

Last week for one night only, the mighty Met Orchestra performed the first of its two season-capping concerts at Carnegie Hall. Vividly led by the Metropolitan Opera’s beloved music director … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – François Girard’s grim “new” production of DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER returns to the Met, magnificently performed

The pandemic may have been the best thing that could have happened to François Girard’s production of Der fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner. The Metropolitan Opera’s staging – co-production with … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Simon McBurney’s new human-scaled staging of DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE basks in low-tech spectacle and literally elevates the music

Last week, the Metropolitan Opera unveiled its new production of Die Zauberflöte. Helmed by British theater director Simon McBurney, the production partially replaces Julie Taymor’s long-running staging (I say partially because … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ivo van Hove’s potent new DON GIOVANNI arrives at the Met, splendidly sung and surprisingly straightforward

Last night, I caught up with Ivo van Hove’s anticipated new production of Don Giovanni, which opened last week at the Metropolitan Opera. The Belgian auteur’s production replaces Michael Grandage’s lifeless … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The 81-year-old MasterVoices performs a starry, utterly delightful staged concert of Gilbert & Sullivan’s IOLANTHE

Earlier this week at Carnegie Hall, MasterVoices finished off its astonishing 81st concert season with a starry, utterly delightful staged concert of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe (or, The Peer and … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Nights at the opera: A tenor wows in his Met debut in L’ELISIR D’AMORE and the last days of a monumental AIDA

Over the past week or so, I twice paid a visit to the Metropolitan Opera to take in two staples of the repertoire. Read on for my thoughts. L’ELISIR D’AMOREThe … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Nights at the opera: Terence Blanchard’s jazzy, turbulent CHAMPION opens & Lise Davidsen glimmers in DER ROSENKAVALIER

On two consecutive nights this week, I had the opportunity to take in a pair of notable productions at the Metropolitan Opera – one an anticipated premiere and the other … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David McVicar’s conservative staging of Bellini’s NORMA returns to the Met with a merely adequate cast

This past week, I made it back to the Metropolitan Opera to catch the revival of David McVicar’s 2017 staging of Bellini’s Norma. The primary reason to catch the production … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – François Girard’s musically resplendent new production of Wagner’s LOHENGRIN continues the bleak saga that began with PARSIFAL

Last night, I attended the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner. As one of the composer’s Romantic operas, the 1850 work includes elements of traditional grand opera … Continue Reading →