Review: Plenty of High Notes at Unusually Low-Key Richard Tucker Awards Gala
An historic recording of golden age tenor Richard Tucker singing “Sound an Alarm” from Handel’s JUDAS MACCABEUS” set the tone for the Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s Gala concert at Carnegie Hall. There was wonderful singing ahead of us—but of a certain kind.
Like many other classical organizations, the Tucker Foundation, has found that, as Charles Dickens said in “A Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, the worst of times.” The “best” is for the quality of the singers that the foundation has supported through varying kinds of grants. The “worst”? Money from the usual donor pool is in shorter supply than usual, which meant a less elaborate evening
Review: Met Revival of BALLO IN MASCHERA Opens in Alden Production
One of the troubles of being a major institution like the Met is that when they produce a new production of a major opera--and Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, which opened in revival the other night, certainly falls into that category--it’s an expensive undertaking. It's true that sometimes a production can be pulled out of its death tumble, with a new cast or simply time making the absolutely awful suddenly make sense. In the case of the current run of the opera, with Angela Meade, Charles Castronovo and Quinn Kelsey heading the cast, even good and sometimes inspired singing can’t save the day. Alden’s take is simply too laden with concept for it to breathe.
Bad Hats/Soulpepper's ALICE IN WONDERLAND Leads Dora Award Nominations
At a press conference held at Meridian Hall, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 228 nominations for the 43rd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, which recognize excellence in professional theatre, dance and opera in Toronto for the 2022-2023 season. Also announced at the press conference was the recipient of the Province of Ontario’s Pauline McGibbon Award.
Gritty New MACBETH Opens Spring at the COC
Ruthless ambition, supernatural forces, and cold-blooded violence collide in the Canadian Opera Company’s thrilling new Macbeth featuring epic sets and costumes, and the powerhouse vocals of Quinn Kelsey and Sondra Radvanovsky.
Opera Philadelphia's 2023-2024 Season Begins With Festival O23
Opera fans across the globe will want to mark their calendars for September 2023 in Philadelphia, as the fifth iteration of Opera Philadelphia's annual, season-opening Festival O brings a star-studded lineup of live performances to multiple venues in the city from Sept. 21 through Oct. 1.