Browsing all posts in Reviews.

Soprano Hei-Kyung Hong sings with allure but lacks charisma in Decker’s ‘Traviata’ at Met

(Associated Press – New York) — Last season Willy Decker’s radical restaging of Verdi’s “La Traviata” took the Metropolitan Opera by storm, with soprano Marina Poplavskaya giving a vocally flawed but dramatically riveting performance as the doomed courtesan Violetta. This season seemed to promise more of the same with the title role taken over by [...]

Virginia Opera Concludes Season with a ‘Dressed Up’ Mikado

by Melissa Wimbish It’s the season for the end of opera seasons. Sigh. Virginia opera said farewell for the summer with a Gilbert and Sullivan classic, The Mikado. Roy Proctor reports, and from the sound of it, could have done without director Dorothy Danner. Every single chance he had to make a stab at her, [...]

Operagasm Exclusive Review: The Opera Zoo: Singers, Composers, and Other Primates

by Sarah Heisler It is no light task for a singer to review a debut work from an important and respected figure like Glenn Winters, Community Outreach Musical Director for Virginia Opera. His book The Opera Zoo: Singers, Composers, and Other Primates, recently published by Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, is clearly a labor of love. [...]

Opera Colorado’s New Production is ‘Ambitious’ and ‘Exotic’

by Christie Connolley Opera Colorado’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas has been well received!  Well, at least according to Ray Mark Rinaldi of the Denver Post.  Check out the Operagasm Review Rundown! Someone got 100% in Music History:  “Composer Daniel Catán’s work first appeared in 1996, but has little of the experimental flavor you [...]

Brewer Rolls Her Rs with Rrrrrrelish as Lady Billows

by Melissa Wimbish Benjamin Britten’s comedic chamber opera Albert Herring included an L.A. debut for Christine Brewer…one outside of her ordinary “oeuvre.” The Wagnerian soprano shook the faces of L.A. opera-goers in the role of Lady Billows. Check out the Operagasm review rundown! You’re such a tease!: “Aficionados of big voices have been waiting for Christine [...]

Operagasm Exclusive Review: Dallas Opera’s The Lighthouse

by Laura Begley I must applaud Dallas Opera as they opened their doors and the audiences’ ears to the beautiful world of chamber opera. Peter Maxwell Davies’ “The Lighthouse,” a tragic tale, based on a true story, of three lighthouse keepers who all disappear without a trace was breathtaking told in the intimate Wyly Theatre [...]

“The People’s Diva” Gets Some Oregon Love

by Melissa Wimbish Renée Fleming could improvise on a theme to “Row Your Boat” and still sing the faces off millions. Her recent appearance with the Oregon Symphony was just another day of brilliance for the soprano who makes every genre her bitch. James McQuillen for The Oregonian gives us the skinny on the deliciously diverse program featuring [...]

Operagasm Exclusive Review: Sarasota Opera’s Vanessa

by Cody Laun Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending Sarasota Opera’s opening night of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa. Having the opportunity to perform in so many operas, being on the other side of the pit was a treat. I rarely get the chance to watch a performance, so I was looking forward to being [...]

Operagasm Exclusive Review: NSO’s Performance featuring Goerne & DeYoung

by Danielle Buonaiuto How does one prepare to hear Bluebeard’s Castle?  Intense and horrifying, the story chills its listener to the bone.  The music, massively orchestrated, lush, and strange with its tinge of Easternness, stirs one, sends a shiver down the spine.  The opening unison, low in the strings, is threatening and ominous as an [...]

Lucia for the Blind?

by Melissa Wimbish Minnesota Opera’s latest production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor doesn’t seem to have done much for reviewer Rob Hubbard of the Pioneer Press. He didn’t completely poop on it though…and it appears that he is in love with the leading lady….even though he met her at a swamp. The soprano isn’t responsible [...]