Opera

Opera Album Review: Two Comic Operas Thrive in Frenchified Versions

March 18, 2024
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Much-loved short works by Pergolesi and Mozart storm the stage, thanks to spiffy French dialogue between the musical numbers.

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Opera Album Review: Gluck’s Final Opera Finally Steps into the Spotlight via a Superb New Recording

March 13, 2024
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Rejected in Gluck’s time because it lacked dramatic thrust, today “Écho and Narcissus” proves to be a candy-box of delights.

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Opera Reviews: BLO and Enigma Chamber Opera Serve Up a Feast of Music and Drama

March 9, 2024
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Some may continue to lament the (supposed) dearth of opera in Boston, but an honest look at these enterprising companies suggest that vivid stories are being told with invention and economy.

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Opera Album Review: A Resplendent First Recording of a Forgotten Opera by the Composer of “Manon” and “Thaïs”

March 8, 2024
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With Egyptian-born Amina Edris in the title role, Massenet’s opera engages the musical and theatrical imagination with its rich characterizations of Greek mythic adventures.

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Opera Album Review: A Short but Virtuosic Opera from 1786 Receives Its First Recording

February 17, 2024
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Even without international-caliber singers and players, Giovanni Piaisello’s “Amor vendicato” works much magic.

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Opera Album and Video Review: The Baroque Does the Bible

January 28, 2024
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Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s 1686 “David and Jonathan” brings ancient characters to life in this 2022 Chateau de Versailles production, brilliantly staged, danced, sung, and played.

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Opera Album Review: An Award-Winning Recording of a Spontini Opera Championed by Maria Callas

January 11, 2024
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Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka, under conductor Christophe Rousset, shows why Berlioz and others loved “La Vestale”.

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Opera Album Review: An Award-Winning Recording of Handel’s Most Comical Opera

January 5, 2024
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Mary Bevan, silvery soprano beloved in Boston, enchants anew in one of Handel’s most frequently performed and recorded operas.

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Best Albums of 2023: Notable Operatic Recordings and a Few Non-Operatic Ones

December 14, 2023
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The subjects of our critic’s favorite albums of the past year include a dragon, a sex-obsessed priest, Mỹ Lai, and a grand pageant about Jewish history.

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Opera Album Review: Finally, “L’Egisto” — Complete and Amazingly Reimagined

December 3, 2023
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Tenor Zachary Wilder — a Boston favorite — and others shine in a Cavalli opera from 380 years ago.

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