Opera

Concert Review: Boston Early Music Festival’s Ulisse Hits the Mark

June 8, 2015
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Sunday’s performance of Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria—by a company whose members know each other’s abilities, voices, and personalities well—gave every indication of an extraordinary week ahead.

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Concert Reviews: The First Wave of Odyssey Opera’s “The British Invasion”

June 4, 2015
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To say that Odyssey Opera continues to set the bar for opera performances in Boston may be a bit superfluous, but it’s true.

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Fuse Opera Preview: Odyssey Opera Presents “The British Invasion”

May 17, 2015
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Taken together, it’s a bracing, provocative, and – perhaps above all – fun survey of music for the stage from, for England, the conspicuously abundant 20th century.

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Opera Concert Review: “Kátya Kabanová” at Boston Lyric Opera

March 18, 2015
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The opportunity to hear Leoš Janáček’s magnificent score live ultimately trumps any reservations I have about the production as a whole.

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Fuse Opera Review: BEMF Stages Two Delightful Neapolitan Comic Operas

December 4, 2014
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BEMF’s double bill of two short and comic Pergolesi operas made for an unusual and totally delightful presentation.

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Opera Review: Boston Lyric Opera’s Powerful “Love Potion”

November 21, 2014
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With its Opera Annex productions – presenting unfamiliar operas in unconventional performance spaces – Boston Lyric Opera really seems to have found its niche.

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Opera Review: Isango Ensemble’s “The Magic Flute” — Not Your Usual Take on Mozart

October 24, 2014
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Isango’s Magic Flute/ Impempe Yomlingo is lit by flashes of brilliance. Most can be traced directly to Mandisi Dyantyis’ reorchestration of Mozart’s orchestral score for an ensemble of marimbas.

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Music Commentary: “I’ve neither seen nor heard it, but I don’t like it. (And neither should you.)”: “The Death of Klinghoffer” Meets the Know-Nothing Protest

October 23, 2014
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What we seem to have here is one of the glories of our democracy in action: the blind leading the oblivious; aping distortions and downright falsehoods about the opera.

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Opera Review: Odyssey Opera’s “Die tote Stadt” — Setting the Bar Higher

September 15, 2014
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Nothing, until the very end of the opera, is ever settled or, even, as it seems: this is psychological musical drama writ large and graphically.

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Opera Commentary: The Mess at the Met — … curtain!

August 22, 2014
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On the surface, this is a deal that lets both sides go forward having saved face, though a closer look at things suggests that the musicians came out ahead.

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