From Jonas Kaufman’s adventures with the Reverse Scalpers to the protests and madness of the Met’s snow day make-up premiere of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle to our handy dandy Met Online Rush Ticket Walkthrough to a spy in the loving house of the International Opera Awards here are our top four most viewed posts of… [Read More]
Our new, knowledgable and heavily nom de plumed contributor Loki von Karajan recently saw Sondra Radvanovsky in Toronto and has something to say about it… Loki – This week, I found myself in Toronto and jumped at the chance to hear a singer I greatly admire, Ms. Sondra Radvanovsky, in concert. I’m used to seeing this… [Read More]
Elizabeth – After seeing William Kentridge’s new production of Lulu on opening night at the Met, I realized I needed to see it a second time in order to fully take in the opera. So we went again (thank you Met Rush lottery!) this past Saturday for one of the final performances. This production has so… [Read More]
The Met’s opera season has commenced and while we have seen several performances already, we have not yet posted our thoughts due to cat chemotherapy appointments and our own personal illnesses. Finally, however, we are back with our reflections on the opening week at the Met. Elizabeth – Turandot was our opening night at the Met… [Read More]
Elizabeth – This past Sunday we had our first trip to Bard, but certainly not our last, for the final performance of the world premiere of Ethel Smyth’s opera, The Wreckers. An intriguing story set on the Cornish coast in the second half of the 18th century, Smyth’s opera portrays a deeply religious community, fanatical almost,… [Read More]
At face value, singing a certain royal role in a certain fairytale opera is probably one of the best gigs in the business. In almost every production you get the fanciest costume, the beastliest aria, the simplest blocking, and the biggest paycheck. In any given decade there are only about 5 other major singers willing… [Read More]
As there seems to be no upward limit of humidity in New York, we finally made a run for it and escaped Manhattan last weekend. Though Caramoor isn’t terribly far outside the city, it was far enough to avoid the humidity and a perfect day trip. A twenty year absence found Caramoor even more beautiful… [Read More]
Elizabeth – A most unlikely concert performance at a most appropriate time, Voodoo, a Harlem Renaissance opera by African-American Harry Lawrence Freeman last performed in 1928 was performed this past Friday and Saturday at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre in Morningside Heights. The concert was the result of the discovery by one student, Annie Holt, of… [Read More]
Elizabeth – On Site Opera’s latest operatic adventure is a hit! Not only does this version of “The Barber of Seville” take place at a gorgeous location—the Fabbri Mansion (the House of the Redeemer) on the tony Upper East Side—but this Barber is a lesser known one, by Giovanni Paisiello, making it all the more appealing… [Read More]
One of our many anonymous contributors/spies found themselves at the International Opera Awards ceremony in London on Sunday and gave us a quick breakdown of the highs and lows… As a full house gathered in the Savoy Theatre, the audience well represented the tone of the evening: a division between the old and the new,… [Read More]
