Opera
The Boston Lyric Opera is mounting a fabulous staging of Benjamin Britten’s visceral opera.
A 1962 concert performance from Radio Italiana, now on CD, shows how delightful Wagner can sound without barking and slow wobbles.
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.
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).
Read More about Classical Music Commentary: Poetic Narratives in the Concert Hall, and a New Recording of Dvořák’s “The Spectre’s Bride”