Here’s a review by D.L. Groover packed with reviews! We’ll focus on two: Anna Bolena at Opera in the Heights and La Traviata at Houston Grand Opera. Check out the Operagasm review rundown!

Anna first!

Maestro on fire!: “With dramatic pace and an almost volcanic fury, Maestro Enrique Carreón-Robledo steers the OH production toward a heading that never falters. He keeps up the tension from the tumultuous prelude through all the personal melodrama and straight into that stupendous duet between Anna and Giovanna (powerhouse mezzo Sandra Schwarzhaupt) that crowns the opera.”

Careful on those steps in your hoopskirts!: ”Stage director Brian Byrnes makes good use of designer Rachel Smith’s stepped set, allowing for decorative and dramatic placing for maximum effect. And the costumes of Dena Scheh are handsomely Tudoresque and detailed, although the hooped gowns for Anna and Giovanna read more Scarlett than Elizabeth.”

If you’re feeling dirty: ”OH’s production is first-rate and spellbinding — operatic soap at its most cleansing.”

Now for Vio!

Something borrowed isn’t good luck on its own. Get out the feather duster for Christ’s sake, this woman has TB!: ”Borrowed from Lyric Opera of Chicago, the production is no beauty, one of veteran stage designer Desmond Heeley’s off works. Faded and musty-colored, it looks covered in dust. We’re supposed to be inside Violetta’s fevered dream….Whenever Violetta is wracked by coughs or stricken by some fatal premonition, she’s plagued by this ghost lady holding out a camellia blossom. This is mighty ineffective.”

“Choristers, think 1880, not 1980 perhaps?”: ”Meanwhile, the chorus is doing the slo-mo boogie in the background like bad Fellini outtakes. Aren’t we degenerate, they hiss.”

Maybe it was just too dusty on stage?: “Soprano Albina Shagimuratova..is a success story and house favorite. A natural coloratura, she can blaze through signature roles and toss off high Fs with flawless technique. There’s no denying the beauty of her voice, even though its color hardly varies. But as an actress who’s supposed to draw a dramatic character, she’s a bit of a dull pencil.”

Tenor to the rescue!: ”Violetta’s lover Alfredo fares better. Tenor Bryan Hymel was thrown into this drab production a little over a week ago when tenor David Lomeli fell ill. Hymel has done a tremendous job… Hymel has a clean, open sound, a real throwback to the voices of the ’50s, like Mario Del Monaco. He sings like a real guy.”

Check out the full review from Houston Press here!

In the Duke of Mantua’s court, the wine flows freely, the dancers move fluidly over the stage and debauchery abounds. Florida Grand Opera set the tone in their latest production of Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Duke’s boisterous court in the very first scene. Having seen Rigoletto before, I eagerly waited to see how stage director Jeffrey Marc Buchman staged the open sexuality that purveys the Duke’s court. I’ve seen productions that politely mimicked the risqué behavior of the Italian courtesans and I’ve seen productions that have bordered on lewd. Although the scantily clad women hanging on the Duke in Act II didn’t bother me, somehow the obvious double entendre of Rigoletto’s thrusting (ahem) jester’s staff in the first scene did. The raised eyebrows of other operagoers aside, the overall effect of indulgence was clearly portrayed.

A dashing, young duke, an innocent girl and a hunchback provide the triad of circumstances in Verdi’s Rigoletto. The Duke of Mantua openly lusts after the young Gilda, tricking her into loving him by masquerading as the poor student, Gaultier Maldé. After the innocent girl winds up in the Duke’s court (and in his bed) due to an abduction gone wrong, Rigoletto vows to murder the Duke.  What can only be described as the Verdian sense of tragedy, Rigoletto finds his daughter murdered instead of the lecherous Duke.

Michael Fabiano sang the Duke of Mantua, swaggering onto the stage looking for love. Or sex. Either way, his day-old beard and swarthy walk (not to mention the airbrushed six-pack abs) did much to make the women of the court – and the audience – swoon. But, I felt Fabiano’s true voice eclipsed his character in his forlorn aria Parmi veder le lagrime.  His smooth delivery and seamless high notes contrasted with the vulnerability of the character while singing of his absent Gilda. The fact that he sang the aria while evading the grasps of half-naked women spoke to the duality of the character. It was unfortunate in the reprise of La donna è mobile Fabiano’s last note came up short on an otherwise excellent performance.

Photo Credit: Gaston de Cardenas

A brilliant performance was Nadine Sierra as Gilda. Her Caro nome was nothing but perfection, and I envied her clear, floaty C-sharps – sung lying flat on her back, thank you very much! I’m sure the lengthy applause was as much for her beautifully sung aria as for her skill in singing such a difficult aria lying down. Gilda is sweet, nimble and gullible throughout the opera, but bravely makes the sacrifice of her own life in Act III when she knowingly enters home of the assassin Scarafucile. I was happy Buchman made the choice to have Gilda come back after her death as a spirit, even though it bordered on hokey with the white dress, smoke covered ground and back-lighting. What would have been worse would have been Gilda lying near death singing her last notes, interspersed with great gasps and shudders.

Mark Walters as Rigoletto was a creepy version of the upstanding father and would-be murderer. The pain Rigoletto feels at the loss of his daughter, Gilda, competes with the strong humiliation of being nothing but a court jester in his Cortigiani, vil razza dannata. Walters sings with a strong and attractive baritone, coupled with a heart-wrenching face, radiating anger and self-loathing all wrapped up in fatherly concern for Gilda. Rigoletto is sometimes portrayed as silly man that falls into poor circumstances, but Walters gave a truthful performance, embracing the physical nuances of a hunchback and delivering Rigoletto’s pain both theatrically and vocally. During the overture, we see the lighted Rigoletto behind a scrim, bowing in anguish, dropping his cloak to reveal the hideous hump on his back. As he picks up the offending jester’s hat and staff, he mocks himself and his lot in life. As this is the first thing the audience sees, during the swell of the dramatic yet haunting overture, I felt incredibly moved. I absolutely loved Walters’ portrayal. The richness of his voice seemed to bring out the fragility of Sierra’s, and during their duet in Act I, I found myself wanting Sierra’s voice to match the maturity of Walters’.

The orchestra under the baton of Andrew Bisantz was appropriately theatrical, rising in forcefulness in all the right places and weeping in others. Bisantz clearly waited on the singers and did not force them from their arias by moving quickly onto the next moment.  Scarafucile, sung by bass Kevin Langan, was as dark and evil as assassins get. Langan was both visually menacing and vocally dark. After propositioning Rigoletto with the prospect of murder for hire, Scarafucile exits through the shadows on a low, sustained F! I kept thinking Langan should walk faster, as I was sure the low and parting sound would peter out before he had fully left the stage. But, he stunned the audience with the haunting sound, well after his slow and dark.

Altogether, the production was stellar. Verdi’s tragedy, with prerequisite death of the soprano, draws audiences in and holds them with baited breath and tear-streaked faces. Florida Grand Opera, in the opulent setting of the Arsht Center, gave an outstanding performance with an exceptional cast.
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Judy O. Marchman, soprano – Ms. Marchman is currently studying for her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Miami.  Roles include Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring and Eurydice in Milhaud’s Les Malheurs d’Orphée , Alice Ford and Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, and Foreign Woman in Menotti’s The Consul. Upcoming performances include John Rutter’s Magnificat and Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, Sorrowful Songs. B.M., Beach Atlantic University, M.M., Florida State University.

The conversation never really stops about Don Giovanni. David Ladds reports on the Royal Opera House’s current offering of Mozart’s greatest opera hit. Check out the Operagasm review rundown!

Give it up for the ladies in the house!: ”The female leads, Hilba Gerzmava’s Donna Anna in particular, were all worthy of their considerable applause. And while the men were a little patchier, Matthew Polenzani’s Don Ottavio delivers a fine performance.”

Finley gets around! Perfect role for him (teehee!): ”In the title role Gerald Finley, fresh from seducing his way around Europe, gets things off to a lively start with the attempted rape of Donna Anna and more successful murder of her father. This starts a spiral of largely comic events that sees our lascivious anti-hero rub everyone up the wrong way.”

A bit of a frowny face, but worth a visit if you have time: “A good Don Giovanni strikes the right balance between comedy and drama. But somehow as a whole, this three-and-a-half hour performance feels less than the sum of its assorted parts.”

Click here for the full review!

A special thanks to Naxos for providing this recording for review!

by Danielle Buonaiuto

When I popped in the Esther Schapira documentary on the life and career of Luciano Pavarotti, I wasn’t expecting to learn anything I didn’t know about the great Italian tenor the world called the King of the High C’s.  Raised on a steady diet of Pavarotti and Friends, blared at top volume while my Italian father washed the car and sang along at the top of his lungs, I know more trivia on Pavarotti than the most seasoned opera buff.  And yet, Schapira’s documentary opened a window into Pavarotti’s personal life that I hadn’t expected.

Amidst the familiar recordings and archival footage of Luciano in his prime, singing “Che Gelida Manina” in the famous Modena production of La Bohème, or clutching the beloved handkerchief in photos from his first solo recital at Carnegie Hall, a steady stream of family photos, endearing home videos, and revealing interviews with the individuals closest to Pavarotti paints a picture of a man to whom there was much more than a miraculous voice.  The people who knew him best — Herbert Breslin, his manager; Mirella Freni, the diva with whom he grew up; Adua Veroni, his first wife; and Edwin Tinoco, his faithful assistant of 12 years – show us relics of his life and career, and answer questions about Luciano the teenager, father, and master chef, and while it is clear that to each of them he was special, he was not perfect.

The documentary traces Pavarotti’s career through its humble beginnings in Modena, to his rise to stardom with Breslin at the helm, to his earth-shattering success in Milano, London, and New York.  But it never romanticizes Pavarotti; for every tale of success, there is Adua explaining how Luciano was never at home, and for every triumphant photo, there are images of Pavarotti growing larger and larger as the years pass, trying to fill a void that his astral career somehow did not.

The excellent interviews are what makes this picture of Luciano Pavarotti so human and so well-rounded.  Adua is frank and does not mince words, while Tinoco, the archivist of Pavarotti’s career, provides photos and relics heretofore unseen.  Breslin’s stories from the front line always provide some insight into what Pavarotti the businessman was really like, and interviews with Mirella Freni and another childhood friend, also named Luciano, reveal anecdotes that even I hadn’t heard.  There is even an appearance by Bono for good measure.  If the documentary itself leaves you wanting more, there is a bonus 35 minutes of footage comprised of extended interviews with (slightly spaced-out) Bono, José Carreras, Herbert Breslin, and Joseph Volpe, from the Metropolitan Opera.

It’s also nice to hear the voice of Schapira from behind the camera, reminding us from time to time that this was a documentary made from her own interviews and research, and with journalistic acumen.  Her questioning produces detailed and eloquent answers – in German, English, and Italian – and the camera work places us within the intimate circle of Pavarotti’s friends and family with whom she spent so much time.

Though the chronology skips around slightly and it therefore requires some effort to assemble the timeline of Pavarotti’s life, the film is packed with footage and photos that are a veritable museum of the private Pavarotti.  The ubiquitous recordings of beloved arias and video and stills from his most famous productions don’t hurt either – there is even a clip from the ill-advised movie Yes, Giorgio that Pavarotti did in 1982 – and make this a great watch for any die-hard Pavarotti fan.

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Danielle Buonaiuto is a Canadian soprano of Italian heritage, who is gaining a reputation for striking a successful balance in her performance career between thoughtful, original executions of traditional repertoire, and compelling interpretations of new compositions. She recently made her debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as Knabe 1 in Die Zauberflöte just days before she gave the premiere of Purple King, a song cycle by emerging composer Jeff Zeiders.

Danielle is deeply committed to new music, and frequently premieres the work of contemporary and emerging composers. She recently recorded songs on Sappho fragments for voice and piano by Toronto composer Adam Scime, as well as Purple King. Stage premieres include The Children’s Crusade by R. Murray Schafer with Soundstreams Canada and the 2009 Luminato Festival, and Peter Fischer’s O D’Amarti o Morire with Toronto Chamber Opera Productions.

Danielle is the third-prize winner of the 31st Eckhardt-Gramatté National New Music Competition, a Peabody Career Development Grant and entrance scholarship recipient, and a two-time recipient of the Board of Governors Award from the University of Western Ontario,where she completed her Bachelor of Music. Danielle is currently pursuing a Master of Music at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studies with Phyllis Bryn-Julson.

Recent engagements at Peabody include Javotte in Manon in November with the Peabody Opera Theatre, the Italienisches Liederbuch with pianist Ka Nyoung Yoo and performances of Pierrot Lunaire with Gemma New conducting, and in the wider Baltimore community, an appearance with Mobtown Modern Concert Series.

Danielle moved to Baltimore after a year of study and travel in Europe, and returns to travel and sing in Italy, Germany and Switzerland whenever she can. For Danielle’s schedule, media and other information, please visit www.daniellebuonaiuto.com

In the mood for truly GRAND OPERA?  Fewer operas are more grand than Verdi’s Aida, as evidenced by the recent production for the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  John von Rhein recently reviewed the production for the Chicago Tribune.  Check out the Operagasm Review Rundown!

Photo Credit: Brian Cassella

Our generation is woefully under Verdi-tized!  “As every opera lover knows, ours is not exactly a golden age of Verdi singing. With full-fledged Italian dramatic voices in short supply, even the major opera companies must scramble to assemble even satisfactory casts for such enduringly popular if vocally demanding fare as Verdi’s “Aida.”

Except in Chicago:  “Surprise! The international cast Lyric Opera has assembled for its first set of performances of the Verdi work — the grandest money machine in grand opera — is one of the strongest the company has fielded in the 29 years the Nicolas Joel production has held the boards at the Civic Opera House.”

Go big or go home! “Aida,” which had its first performance of the season on Saturday night, perfectly satisfies the craving most opera-goers have for big vocal display, lavish spectacle and intimate human tragedy, all wrapped in some of Verdi’s most gloriously inspired music.”

I say BRAVA! “Sondra Radvanovsky has become Chicago’s Verdi lyric-dramatic soprano of choice. Aida is her latest Verdi role at Lyric, following her successful Amelia, Elvira and Leonora, and it made a good vocal and dramatic fit. The voice has grown in size and depth, if not invariably in color, with each role. Aida’s great aria, “O patria mia,” drew the evening’s biggest ovation, and for good reason. The American soprano invested the romanza with lustrous sound and a melting legato, floating the soft climactic phrases ravishingly. Whenever the music soared, so did Radvanovsky.”

Whomp, whomp:  “Giordani left a rather more mixed impression. The Italian tenor struck the requisite stalwart poses and cut a heroic figure despite the unflattering wig and outsized robe-cum-breastplate with which costume designer Pet Halmen outfitted Radames. The voice remains healthy and he still can trumpet clarion high notes to the back of the house. But his inability or unwillingness to sing softly (the high B-flat at the end of “Celeste Aida” was delivered in standard can-belto fashion) and the loss of vocal presence in the middle and lower registers were worrisome.”

Check out the full review here!

A special thanks to Naxos for providing this recording for review!

by Matthew Scrivner

There’s a confession I have to make before this review begins. Before taking on this assignment, I had never heard of Carlo Colombara. That said, after watching Carlo Colombara: The Art of the Bass he has become one of my absolute favorite interpreters of the great moments in opera to be a bass. A DVD like this one is what happens when a top singer of dramatic repertoire combines with some of the world’s finest orchestras, conductors, and leading innovators in opera production. In addition to musicians and directors, a team of seventy people worked for the Spanish companies Opera and Flamenco Productions and Ópera Actual magazine to create a lavish production centered around the vocal and acting prowess of Carlo Colombara. This particular recording includes a flamenco dancing introduction, “Votre Toast” from Bizet’s Carmen, “Ella giammai m’amò” from Verdi’s Don Carlo, “La Calunnia” from Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, “Il lacerato spirito” from Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, ‘Vous qui faites l’endormie” from Gounod’s Faust, “Tu sul labbro” from Verdi’s Nabucco, “Ecco il mondo” from Boïto’s Mefistofele, “Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima parea” from Verdi’s Attila, Aleko’s Cavatina from Rachmaninov’s Aleko, and “Farewell, my son” from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

The opening sequence features a drummer, a tap dancer, and a musician clapping to create a rhythm for the lead dancer representing Carmen, who proceeds to do some incredible flamenco dancing. This introduction is shot in the same space as the famous Toreador aria scene that follows. Both the introduction and the aria ooze sensuality and are a glorious representation of Bizet’s music.

It is not only the performers who sparkle in this collection of scenes. Nearly every filming location is an ornately decorated palace or cathedral covered in beautiful paintings and the elaborate precious metal gilding of the Baroque and Rococo periods. In addition to excellent locations, the power of silent drama is never neglected. The scene from Don Carlo features the complete long orchestral introduction to the King’s recitative and aria. Despite having nearly 5 minutes on screen without a line to sing, I was never left with the impression that Colombara was waiting for his moment to start. From the beginning to the end, he was a perfectly world-weary and lonely King Philip II.

Throughout his career it has been as an interpreter of Verdi and Mefistofele that Colombara has garnered his highest praise. The reasons for both are evident in spades from the performances of “Tu sul labbro” and “Ecco il mondo” in particular on this recording. The Nabucco aria showcases his control of the long legato line and effortless change in register required in nearly all Verdi arias. Colombara’s line is so smooth and hypnotic even through the ornaments of the prayer’s second half, it is difficult to believe that nearly six minutes have passed before the scene ends. The Boïto aria showcases his effortless control of the extended upper register while maintaining a sinister presence as the Prince of Darkness himself. This scene is recommended for mature consumption only due to the highly erotic nature of the staging and topless dancing demonesses.

There are a few things about the DVD that did not excite me as much as the rest. Certain of the vignettes are extremely difficult to understand. For example the performance of “La Calunnia”. Colombara is made up to resemble a certain dark wizard who must not be named and spends the entire aria throwing red and white balls around a ball pit in the middle of a lavish palace suite. Equally as confounding to me was the choice to set “Vous qui faites” in a jazz club reminiscent of Golden Era Hollywood. The other staging oddity was in Aleko’s Cavatina when at the end there is a sudden explosion of light from the church altar behind the dancer portraying Aleko’s gypsy lover Zemfira. The original OFP production includes a “making of” section sadly missing from the Naxos DVD that likely explains the thoughts behind these less immediately accessible choices.

Despite a few figurative and literal sour notes, the moments of absolute greatness make this DVD a must- see for anyone who appreciates or wishes to learn about the bass repertoire, or the opera buff looking for great singing and great scenes.

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Bass-Baritone Matthew Scrivner is a DMA Voice Performance student  in the Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he is also finishing work on a Master’s in Musicology.  Mainstage roles at the Conservatory have included Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Colline in La Bohéme.. Outside of the Conservatory Matthew is newly appointed Adjunct Voice Faculty at Avila University, a member of the chorus in the upcoming production of Nixon in China at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and has been seen on the concert stage as bass soloist for the cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden and the Bethel College presentation of Verdi’s Requiem, also as bass soloist.

When I saw the headline for this review, I immediately thought of funny, awesome Miranda — but it’s not her. This Miranda is a chamber opera by composer and singer Kamala Sankaram who sings the title role in this production. Check out the Operagasm review rundown!

Don’t even think of auditioning for this show if you are a bad multi-tasker and/or hate AutoTunez: “The performers all play instruments as well as sing and act their roles in the simple tale… It all transpires under the scary-silly gaze of a computerized magistrate, projected as a robotic head on a screen and sung with auto-tuned Mr. Roboto majesty by Eric Brenner.” 

The perfect opera to bring your “Conspiracy Theorist” friend to. (You’re just going to have to deal with the fact that I ended that sentence with a preposition.): Clever videos show alternate-world news broadcasts and commercials (like one for dirt), helping to set the tone of the world we’re in, namely the New Federation of Northern States. Surprising projections and lighting effects play up the stunning costumes (by Jacci Jaye) worn by the spirited, multitasking cast – who are, in turn, aided at key moments by enthusiastic audience participation. If that was a breathless sentence, it’s meant to suggest the barrelling feel of the production.

The soprano is fabulous…duh!: Unlike most of the cast, Kamala Sankaram, in the title role, is a real opera singer. But her creamy soprano fits neatly among the impressively varied skills of her cast, whose live playing realizes the composer’s innovative orchestration. With violin, cello, electric guitar, reeds, and recorded backing tracks, later joined by Ms. Sankaram’s accordion, the very full sound now and then stomps over the refreshingly straightforward libretto (by Ms. Sankaram with Rob Reese). Not all the voices are very powerful. But one can usually make out the words.

Get the full scoop here!

Seattle, the birthplace of grunge is host to the latest production of Verdi’s Attila.  Bernard Jacobson reviewed the Seattle Opera production for the Seattle Times.  Check out the Operagasm Review Rundown!

Smells like teen (or composer in his youth) spirit: “The rewards of ‘Attila,’ the early Verdi work that had its Seattle Opera premiere on Saturday, are in the nature of visceral thrills rather than the profound musical inspiration or psychological insight of the composer’s maturity.”

Outshined: “On the face of it, the singing of the principals was comparably thrilling. The outstanding bass-baritone John Relyea in the title role, Marco Vratogna as the Roman general Ezio, Ana Lucrecia Garcia as Odabella, and Antonello Palombi as Foresto all unfurled voices of stellar quality. Vratogna and Palombi, however, unfurled them all too generously. Palombi’s singing in particular, abandoning the sensitivity he showed here in “Aida” and “Pagliacci,” might not unfairly be described on this occasion as one unrelieved shout.  It was revealing, moreover, to compare his and Vratogna’s insistent fortissimo with Relyea’s performance: whereas those two gentlemen sounded vocally one-dimensional, even when Relyea was singing just as loudly there was always a sense of light and shade about his tone.”

Man in the Box: “Unfortunately, quite aside from the absurdity of some of the costumes, the visual side of the production was even more disturbing than its musical aspect. Before the music began, we were treated to the sight of three prisoners being shot to death. Without this, we would of course not have understood that Attila was engaged in some pretty nasty warfare.”

Check out the full review here.

Jaho as Vio

We just can’t get enough of La Traviata this week on Operagasm!

Reviewer William Hartston seems to have said it best: “What does Verdi’s La Traviata have in common with a London bus? Answer: you can wait a long time for it, but then three come along one after another. Unlike London buses, however, you do not have to wait very long at the Royal Opera House for another Traviata.” I’m going to totally act like I understand that bus reference as if I’ve been in London before and give a good chortle! Heigh ho! Check out the Operagasm review rundown!

Waaaay better than J-Lo: ”I saw [Ermonela] Jaho in this role at Covent Garden two years ago and was stunned by the excellence and commitment of her performance. This time, she is even better.”

Going through the motions?: “The third main role, of Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, was taken by the Italian baritone Paolo Gavanelli who has just the right booming voice for the bullying patriarch. His acting, however, particularly when called upon to show the intensity of his relationships with the other main characters, seemed rather routine.”

Best Alfredo sauce I’ve ever tasted: “The role of Alfredo is the most difficult to portray convincingly, as the whole opera casts him as a rather wimpish character, carried along by events rather than controlling them, but Stephen Costello brought real depth to the part. This young American has risen rapidly to claim a place among the world’s best tenors and recent performances show that he has the acting abilities to match his wonderfully smooth and powerful voice.”

Bravo, Maestro!: ”The conductor, Maurizio Benini, did a splendid job, bringing out the very best of the always excellent Covent Garden orchestra. Right from the start, the intense emotionality of the music came through strongly, and the balance between singers and orchestra was maintained perfectly throughout.”

“And you LOOK wonderful!”: With Bob Crowley’s designs perfectly capturing everything from the sumptuousness of the opening act to the grimness of the final moments, this all adds up to a glorious evening at the opera.

Check out the full review here!

Or go see for yourself before January 25!

On Saturday, January 7 Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky gave a concert at the Lyric Opera of Chicago to honor the company’s general director emeritus, William Mason, who retired in August.  John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune was on hand to provide an account of every detail.  Get the 411 in the Operagasm Review Rundown!

Let’s address the important stuff first: “Fleming modeled a succession of gorgeous Douglas Hannant creations, the first a pale green gown with voluminous cape, the second a gauzy symphony of brown and black. Not to be outdone on the fashion front, her partner variously sported a long tuxedo jacket with sequined lapels and a rakish black-shirt-and-black-trousers outfit.”

The singing wasn’t too bad either: “Between them, the singers generated considerable sizzle in the opera’s final scene, in which the tormented Onegin regrets his callous youthful behavior toward Tatiana and urges her to flee with him. She admits she still loves him but tells him that, since she is now married, with a position in society, she will not forsake her responsibility. They nailed the scene with unforgettable vocal and emotional impact, making it the highlight of the program.”

You better recognize!: “Mason came in for multiple honors in an onstage ceremony presided over by Freud, Davis, former board president Allan Muchin and artistic director emeritus Bruno Bartoletti. Not only was the former general director given the Carol Fox Award, the company’s highest honor, but he also learned that Lyric’s main rehearsal room will henceforth bear his name.”

Check out the full review here!