Opera Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 7

Review: DAS RHEINGOLD, Royal Opera House
by Alexander Cohen - September 12, 2023

Given his political radicalism and fervent romanticism, it is more than fair to wonder if Richard Wagner would be partial to Just Stop Oil. Sporting his iconic beret, would he, if he were around today, brandish banners and block cars on the M1? Barrie Kosky may think so. He thrusts Wagner’s ecologic...

Review: TURANDOT, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
by Gary Naylor - August 26, 2023

The thrill of operatic voices singing up close and personal in a radical re-interpretation of an opera ripe for bringing into the 21st century...

Review: DAS RHEINGOLD at McCaw Hall
by Erica Miner - August 13, 2023

The outstanding cast and provocative production, merged with Wagner’s indisputably monumental music and drama, made this Rheingold a de rigueur happening...

Review: LOYOLA, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
by Gary Naylor - August 12, 2023

Beautifully sung South American opera flawed a little by its overpowering religious messaging....

Review: TROUBLE IN TAHITI, Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre
by Gary Naylor - August 11, 2023

Boutique opera now 72 years old but could have been written yesterday in terms of its music, its themes and its relevance, performed with verve and confidence...

Review: RUDDIGORE, Opera Holland Park
by Gary Naylor - August 10, 2023

Super show, a little slow at first, but blossoming into an escapist entertainment that can be enjoyed as much in the 2020s as it was in the 1880s...

Review: In Saint-Saens' HENRI VIII, the King Has the Title but the Queens Are in Charge at Bard Festival
by Richard Sasanow - July 30, 2023

Donizetti’s so-called “Tudor Trilogy”--ANNA BOLENA, MARIA STUARDA and ROBERTO DEVEREUX (aka, “the one about Elizabeth I”)--suddenly has some competition on British history in opera: Camille Saint-Saens' HENRI VIII....

Review: NO FOR AN ANSWER, Grimeborn, Arcola Theatre
by Michael Higgs - July 28, 2023

A strong score, neat production by Mehmet Ergen and an excellent cast make it worth a watch, even if it has several plot-related issues...

Review: ITCH, Opera Holland Park
by Gary Naylor - July 27, 2023

Jonathan Dove's music underpins and enhances the tale of a teen suddenly thrust into a world of corporate power and environmental exploitation...

Review: Crutchfield's Teatro Nuovo Turns Fairy Godmother as CRISPINO Returns to New York
by Richard Sasanow - July 23, 2023

The famed playwright and wit George S. Kaufman once said, “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.” One can only imagine what Kaufman--whose many credits include YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, as well as the source of Sondheim’s MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, which is circling Broadway for a return this fall-...

Review: PROM 11: HORRIBLE HISTORIES - 'ORRIBLE OPERA, Royal Albert Hall
by Kat Mokrynski - July 24, 2023

Prom 11: Horrible Histories ‘Orrible Opera is a delightful show that will amuse audiences of all ages while making opera more approachable....

Review: Splendid Donizetti Rarity POLIUTO Showed Its Great Bones via Crutchfield's Teatro Nuovo
by Richard Sasanow - July 20, 2023

Usually, when long-neglected works somehow find their way to the forefront, we find there’s a pretty good reason for the lack of interest. Happily for us, this does not apply to Donizetti’s POLIUTO, which Will Crutchfield’s Teatro Nuovo performed last weekend at Montclair State’s Kasser Theatre and ...

Review: THE TURN OF THE SCREW at Union Avenue Opera
by Benjamin Torbert - July 10, 2023

“The Turn of the Screw,” a deft psychological exploration of the dimensions of horror and the human mind. UAO’s successful staging of the work appropriately raised more questions than it answered, about danger, fear, the limits of human perception, and a host of other commonplaces in horror....

Review: CINDERELLA (CENDRILLON) at Artscape Opera House Is a Magical Blend of Opera, Ballet and Dialogue
by Jaime Uranovsky - July 05, 2023

Everyone has been acquainted with the story of CINDERELLA in some way, shape or form. What not everyone has experienced is this timeless tale told through a mixture of opera, ballet and acting. Indeed, this self-aware adaptation of Pauline Viardot’s chamber opera CINDERELLA (CENDRILLON), presented b...

Review: WOMAN AT POINT ZERO, Royal Opera House
by Gary Naylor - June 29, 2023

Unique production defies easy categorisation, but thrills and appals to live long in the memory...

Review: EVEREST, Barbican Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - June 26, 2023

An atmospheric story of a group of trapped explorers at the mercy of mother nature, the UK premiere of Joby Talbot’s Everest has a chillingly eerie resonance....

Review: WERTHER, Royal Opera House
by Alexander Cohen - June 21, 2023

A lacklustre central performance shifts the focus towards Charlotte's tragedy instead of Werther's....

Review: Madrid's Teatro Real Brings Out the Charms of Rossini's TURCO IN ITALIA with Oropesa
by Richard Sasanow - June 17, 2023

As I sat down to write about the delightful recent performance I heard of Rossini’s IL TURCO IN ITALIA at Madrid’s Teatro Real, with soprano Lisette Ororpesa in a charming new production by Laurence Pelly, I went to Spotify to see what kind of recordings were around. I was surprised to find more tha...

Review: Madrid's Teatro Real Brings Out the Charms and Laughs of Rossini's TURCO IN ITALIA
by Richard Sasanow - June 22, 2023

As I sat down to write about the delightful recent performance I heard of Rossini’s IL TURCO IN ITALIA at Madrid’s Teatro Real, with soprano Lisette Ororpesa in a charming new production by Laurence Pelly, I went to Spotify to see what kind of recordings were around. I was surprised to find more tha...

Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL, Opera Holland Park
by Cheryl Markosky - June 12, 2023

As a first taster to opera, Opera Holland Park's Hansel and Gretel isn't a bad place to start....

Review: IL TROVATORE, Royal Opera House
by Alexander Cohen - June 04, 2023

Adele Thomas' new production is a rollicking clash of carnivalesque weirdness and heartfelt desire....

Review: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at Metropolitan Opera
by Peter Danish - June 02, 2023

Thomas Guggeis, the young German conductor making his Met debut, is Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Berlin and the designated Generalmusikdirektor of the Oper Frankfurt; pretty impressive for one who has yet to hit his 30th birthday!   His Met debut was justly anticipated, as across Europe he is kno...

Review: Love It or Hate It, the Met's New MAGIC FLUTE Is a Creative Roller Coaster Ride
by Richard Sasanow - May 21, 2023

Of all the theatre directors that the Met has marshalled into its forces, Simon McBurney--who brought his version of Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLOTE (THE MAGIC FLUTE) to the Met on Friday in his house debut--may be the most successful in melding music and theatre, storytelling and visual elements....

Review: On Site Opera's TABARRO Brings Noir Puccini to New York's South Street Seaport
by Richard Sasanow - May 17, 2023

IL TABARRO has a special relationship to New York, since it’s the only Puccini to premiere here at the Metropolitan, in 1918. While it’s only the first third of the trio of short operas that go by the title IL TRITTICO, no one attending the other night’s performance by On Site Opera in partnership w...

Review: LA BOHÈME at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - May 17, 2023

The glorious music of Puccini remains the principal reason to see the Washington National Opera’s (WNO)current production of the beloved classic opera La bohème. This oft-referenced opera that has influenced everything from the famous film Moonstruck to the hit Broadway musical Rent, must be a fairl...