Opera
Beethoven reportedly told Rossini to stick to writing comic operas. But new recordings of two of Rossini’s major serious operas bring great pleasure to the listener—and let us hear some splendid young singers.
A list of the most memorable opera and vocal recital recordings of the year.
None of the opera recordings I have reviewed this past year beats this Cradle for dramatic vitality, musical imagination, and ongoing political relevance.
When it comes to raising high spirits, the BEMF’s delightful Alcina was an inspired choice.
This recording challenges our settled sense of what art music, in conjunction with colorful spoken and sung verse, can accomplish.
Yes, the first-ever recording of a opera that is as wonderful as Berlioz and Wagner said it is.
Every performance of opera should leave an audience so exhilarated.
MassOpera opened their season with a workshop of a new opera, something they’ve never done before.
Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg is a three character comic opera that combines elements of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit and Perry Mason.
Classical Music Commentary: Poetic Narratives in the Concert Hall, and a New Recording of Dvořák’s “The Spectre’s Bride”
A reflection on the whole tradition of combining longish narrative poems to music, especially for performance in a concert hall by large forces (e.g., singers and orchestra).
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