LustMusikBill Viola’s much-anticipated reinterpretation of Tristan und Isolde’s sexual angst is oddly neuter.
The Battle of BritainGeorge Bernard Shaw thought little of Gilbert and Sullivan. Would an evening at Lincoln Center have changed his mind?
Cold FusionTan Dun’s shtick—using Chinese musical gestures in Western opera—leaves both genres worse for wear.
The Year in Classical & DancePleasure came from far-flung corners: Kings of the Dance outran its cheesiness, a movie recalled the odd genius of Glenn Gould, and Lon […]
Razzle-Dazzle RossiniYes, the Met is overhyping its new Il Barbiere di Siviglia. But the production has energy to spare—so who’s arguing?
A Few More Short Films About Glenn GouldHours of Gould on film are readily available for home viewing, from the many television programs made by the CBC featuring the pianist performin […]
Diva EmergencyThey don’t make them like they used to. Can Renée Fleming and Audra McDonald save this endangered species?
Meet the New BossAmid a circus of hype, Peter Gelb’s Met makes its debut on the wings of a cold, stiff Butterfly.
Can I Ask You a Sexual Favor?City Opera’s Semele takes a satirical brush to less-than-savory methods of political advancement.
The Greater GoodAt Glimmerglass, The Greater Good is lively and complex; Jonathan Miller’s Jenufa is almost too dark and severe for its own good.
Mostly RecoveredMostly Mozart looks healthy again at 40—and Peter Sellars’s outré Zaide is exactly the kind of therapy it needed.
Monster in a BoxGrendel’s visual pleasures can’t overcome
a blah score that’s all pastiche.
She’s No StreisandAnd that’s a good thing. Audra McDonald
is that rare singer who
succeeds in both opera and pop.
Deborah Voigt’s New ProblemNow that she looks the part,
the soprano sounds troublingly tentative
and colorless in Tosca.
Surprise EndingThe Met’s least-inventive director turns in a bizarre swan song. But the stars of
his Don Pasquale sound (and look) great.
No Peace, No SexAdamo’s new opera of Lysistrata is
as timely as can be, despite
a few too many camp touches.
Brangelina Sings!Well, not quite. But Angela Gheorghiu
and Jonas Kaufmann do as
much for the eyes as for the ears.
Not Bad for 100Juilliard spends its big birthday year by fêting—and commissioning work from—its offstage stars.
German ReengineeringHow is Simon Rattle making the Berlin Philharmonic post his own?
A New York visit offers a snapshot.
He Reigns In SpainLincoln Center opens a monthlong
festival devoted to Osvaldo
Golijov with Ainadamar, his transcendent
opera of the Spanish Civil War.
The Yeomen of New YorkDoes anyone do this specialized repertory better than the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players?
Tragic IndeedAn American Tragedy is yet
another contemporary-opera-by-the-numbers rehash.
Classical and DanceDance companies leapt to
meet new audiences, opera embraced unorthodox source material, the Philharmonic had an opening night
to remember, a […]
Strange LoveThe Met’s weird new production bleeds the delicate
chemistry out of Roméo et Juliette.
Pilot ErrorSkip The Little Prince and
take your kids to a real opera instead.
They’ll thank you later.
Così Fan TutteSheer musical excellence is what drives this ‘Cosi,’ one of those now-I-can-die-happy performances that comes along rarely.
Press PlayIf pop acts go on tour to plug their albums, why shouldn’t Cecilia Bartoli or Renée fleming?
The New New ThingsPhilip Glass’s latest work drones on at BAM; Ricky Ian Gordon gets a magical premiere at Lincoln Center.
Foreign CompetitionThe London Symphony Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic make dazzling visits—and the home team looks pretty anemic in comparison.
Unchained MelodyThe Met pulls out all the star power it can for the season debut—with (mostly) spectacular results.
Wartime AusterityRichard Strauss’s 1942 Capriccio is usually
a treat for the devout fan, but
City Opera’s staging turns it grim and dowdy.
New LifeA new production’s weird staging can’t
diminish the huge emotional
scope of Britten’s Death in Venice.
Suspicious PackageLincoln Center’s latest attempt to
rebrand the classics threatens
to gum up the Mostly Mozart Festival.
La Bella Dormente Nel BoscoAll manner
of fantastic creatures pop up: a chorus of
frogs, airborne fairies, a fluttering nightingale, a juggling jester, a sleepy cat,
[…]
Aging GracelesslyA misbegotten concert staging of
South Pacific makes it clear
why this show isn’t revived more often.
‘Orlando’ GloriosoHandel’s opera, long out of fashion, turns out to be ripe for reinterpretation.
Weird ScienceLaurie Anderson delivers her NASA-fueled vision of inner and outer space in The End of the Moon.
Bad BetCasino Paradise is like a trip to the blackjack tables: bright and entertaining,
but at its heart a losing proposition.
A Russian WinterRejoice, comrades! Four programs display the intensity and sweep
of twentieth-century Soviet music.
On Disc: The Audio EncyclopediaMore than 40 hours of hard-to-find live performances, featuring singers and conductors you won’t hear anywhere else. But wait, there’s more.
House ProudA scaled-up Rodelinda is packed with vocal talent—not to
mention one fabulous Italian villa.
Thirteenth-Century FoxDeborah Voigt returns, slimmer
and in fine voice, in Tannhäuser—but an
overdue Met debut is the real news.
