Steve Callahan - Page 7

OTSL has opened a delicious 'La boheme'.

Gateway Opera is like a five-star tapas restaurant; it continues to delight its patrons with superbly delicious bite-sized offerings of that succulent dish-opera.

Once again the exciting young Gateway Opera company shows us that you don't need a massive budget to create wonderful opera.

High passion and sheer unrestrained melodrama overflow in Verdi's 'Il Trovatore,' the current offering by Winter Opera St. Louis. And the voices are glorious! Once again Winter Opera has assembled a sterling group of singers. Caruso once said that all it takes for a successful performance of 'Trovatore' is the four greatest singers in the world. I'm not sure if the judges' ballots are all in yet, but the singers of the four principal roles in this production would seem to be right up there among the finalists.

Gina Galati and her Winter Opera continue to bless St. Louis with exemplary productions! They've just opened 'Cosi fan tutte,' and it's a superb presentation of this popular Mozart work.

St. Louis' Winter Opera gives a delightful 'Yeomen of the Guard.'

They've done it! Little Union Avenue Opera and its leader Scott Schoonover bring home the gold! They have triumphed over that colossus of all operatic colossi-Wagner's Ring Cycle! They entered the battle wielding the magic sword of talent and determination and, just like Siegfried, they have conquered this giant, this dragon of an opus and forced it to yield a pure golden 'Ring'! Their current production of 'Gotterdammerung', the final work in Wagner's vast tetralogy, is a showcase for some magnificent voices. Wagner would be pleased.

Plays through 8/8/15

From the moment that Scott Schoonover raised his baton to invoke that incredible athletic overture it was re-confirmed to me that DON GIOVANNI is indeed the zenith of 18th Century opera

This review was first published by KDHX 88-1 St. Louis. Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened a very fine production of 'Emmeline,' by Tobias Picker, with libretto by J. D. McClatchy. This remarkable piece premiered at the Santa Fe Opera in 1996 to great praise. It was done at the New York City Opera in '98 (with much the same cast)—again to considerable praise. It was deemed one of the great modern operas. Except for two 'reduced version' productions the work lay fallow until this full-scale revival by Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

This review was first published by KDHX, St. Louis. Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened Handel's 'Richard the Lionheart,' and it is truly astonishing! It is, in all aspects, the most perfect production of an opera that I've ever seen. And voices? Ah, the voices are quite stunning! This is not to be missed. This is a masterpiece.

A rare Puccini receives a lovely production: 'La rondine' at Opera Theatre of St. Louis

Gateway Opera's production of Mozart's The Impresario is one of the most delightful evenings of opera that I've ever experienced.

Winter Opera St. Louis, after a brilliant production of 'Le Nozze di Figaro', continues its eighth season with a venture into less familiar fare - Pietro Mascagni's 'L'amico Fritz'.

Winter Opera kicks off its eighth season with a simply heavenly production of 'Le Nozze di Figaro'. It's the perfect thing for one's first introduction to opera, or for turning a tentative love of opera into a deep and true commitment.

The Union Avenue Opera continues its bold venture into Wagner's Ring Cycle with the opening of a fine production of Siegfried, the third in that titanic tetralogical juggernaut that has rolled through opera history since 1874.

Andre Previn's operatic adaptation of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' opens at the Union Avenue Opera.

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened the fourth production in its June festival season--'The Dialogues of the Carmelites', by Francis Poulenc. The cast features some St. Louis favorites: Kelly Kaduce, who gave us that jaw-dropping Salome five years ago, now plays a much timider leading lady-Sr. Blanche of the Agony of Jesus. And the wonderful Christine Brewer sings the role of the New Prioress.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis has just opened a new commissioned work entitled simply '27'. With music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Royce Vavrek, it brings us into the world of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas.

Well, it worked on me! 'The Elixir of Love' opened last night at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and after only a sip or two I fell head over heels for it. At the end of the evening I was, like Nemorino, giddy (oh, let's admit it, the better word is 'drunk') with happiness and delight. It was simply perfection!