Browsing all posts in Reviews.
So into STRAUSS right now- But in English?
by Erica Papillion-Posey
I have recently begun learning the pant role of the , heart on his sleeve, composer (komponist), from Ariadne auf Naxos, and can’t wait to download this MP3, yes, I am doing it as I write this. You should check it out too….
Strauss: Ariadne on Naxos, Christine Brewer et al, Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Armstrong(Chandos)
Richard Strauss in [...]
Honey!- ‘PAPE’s’ back….
by Erica Papillion-Posey
When there’s a convergence of rugged masculine looks and spectacular baritone vocals it can only equal the likes of RENE PAPE! Right now- well for some time now, he has been, hands down my favorite male singer, regardless of fach. For me, Rene is opera’s “IT” man!
So obviously, we’ve got to keep you informed about the [...]
Love is in the air GOUNOD style!
by Erica Papillion-Posey
The focus at the Merola Opera Program these days seems to be moving away from a juke box-y series of stand-alone numbers, in favor of longer and more integrated dramatic scenes. But never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned love duet to bring down the house!
That’s what happened in the War Memorial [...]
Queen of Spades Plays to Win!
by Christie Connolley
Union Avenue Opera is garnering fabulous reviews of their production of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch raved about the stellar production:
“Artistic director-conductor Scott Schoonover assembled a really impressive group of singers for the final production of UAO’s summer season, particularly among the men. Tenor Mathew Edwardsen, as [...]
Mozart, Mountains and Mayhem….
Erica Papillion-Posey
The student singers at the Aspen Music Festival and School this summer rendered the finale of Mozart’s “Nozze di Figaro” touchingly: “Pace, pace,” Figaro and Susanna sang: “Peace, peace.” The repentant Count pleaded, “Forgive me.” The Countess responded, “My answer is yes.”
It is one of the greatest, most moving reconciliation scenes in opera, conveying [...]
Wagner finally gone to the RATS!
by Erica Papillion-Posey
It has become practically a part of the tradition at the Bayreuth Festival for the director of an avant-garde Wagner production to be vociferously booed on opening night. So it was on July 25, when the festival opened with the new Hans Neuenfels production of “Lohengrin,” which I saw here on Tuesday, the [...]
Donizetti’s Parisian State of Mind….
by Erica Papillion-Posey
A romantic comic opera with militaristic undertones sounds like a rather odd juxtaposition of style and substance, but La Fille Du Regiment (Daughter of the Regiment) pulls off that feat with a delightful combination of tuneful melodies, along with a considerable amount of charm that’s hard to resist. With their second offering of [...]
Meade the “MACK” in Trovatore too?
by Erica Papillion-Posey
Angela Meade’s star has risen meteorically in the past three years: a win at the 2007 Metropolitan Opera Auditions, a professional debut at the Met in a leading role as a last-minute substitute the following year, lavish praise from The New York Times and The New Yorker for her performance in the famously [...]
Santa Fe’s Maddening Hoffmann
by Melissa Wimbish
Santa Fe Opera’s production of Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman was “maddening,” “cluttered,” and “confusing” according to reviewer Scott Cantrell of Dallas Morning News. Directed by Christopher Alden and designed by Allen Moyer this was Sante Fe’s first take on the unfinished classic.
Click here for the full review: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-hoffmann_0809gd.State.Edition1.174cb90.html
David Bowie and Nietzsche Together At Last!
by Melissa Wimbish
Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times reports on the latest opera by German composer Wolfgang Rihm, Dionysos. Based on Nietzsche’s Dionysos-Dithyramben, its premiere at the Salzburg Festival this past Tuesday left the reviewer feeling “oddly moved.” That’s my favorite kind of moved…
Where does David Bowie come in? Well, the title mentioned [...]
