Opera

Opera Review: An Outstanding “Orfeo” from Boston Early Music Festival

November 28, 2012
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The tremendous success and rave reviews elicited by this “Orfeo” are due in large part to Boston Early Music Festival’s superb orchestra and cast of eight singers.

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Fuse Opera Review/Commentary: A Magisterial “Lost in the Stars” at Glimmerglass

August 13, 2012
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When the performance ended and I sat there, silent, reveling with the rest of the audience in the goose bumps that inevitably occur after such an experience, I knew, in my bones, that no movie, however good, could be as good as this.

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Opera Review: The Sparkling Human Comedy of “Don Pasquale”

July 26, 2012
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Under the baton of its Artistic Director, Susan Davenny Wyner, Boston Midsummer Opera has become an annual highlight of Boston’s classical music line-up during the summer.

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Classical CD Review: Shostakovich, Prologue to “Orango” and Symphony no. 4/Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

June 20, 2012
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Orango is one of the tantalizing “what might have been’s” of musical history: a biting social commentary on Soviet society on the fifteenth anniversary of the October Revolution, written when Shostakovich was at the height of his musical powers and popularity.

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Concert Review: Lowell House Opera Presents “Snegurochka”

March 23, 2012
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Although there is room for improvement, the singers engage each other, as well as the orchestra, with vigor and skill, making for a satisfying “Snegurochka” in Russian.

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Concert Review: Two Memorable Productions of Charming Ravel Operas

February 4, 2012
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Aside from the intrinsic entertainment value of these operas, they show Ravel in quite a different light than we are used to from his chamber and other orchestral music.

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Opera Review: A New Virtual Opera House in Town

December 11, 2011
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This is shorter, no-frills Opera as Cinema than the Met HD supplies: without long intermissions, star interviews and audience preludes and postludes from Lincoln Center, it’s almost an hour shorter.

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Classical Music Review: Boston Early Music Festival’s Duo of Charpentier Operas Delights

November 28, 2011
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I keep being surprised by the brilliant productions and overall excellence of the concerts Boston Early Music Festival presents.

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Classical Music Review: The Boston Lyric Opera — An Efficient and Satisfying “Macbeth”

November 7, 2011
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The Boston Lyric Opera’s new production of “Macbeth,” with sets designed by John Conklin, is based on elements of a New York City Opera production and plays up the macabre elements of the story, which are many.

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Classical Music Review: A Killer “Cardillac”

March 1, 2011
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Many musicians know Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) as a somewhat dry composer who wrote a few operas as well as sonatas for every instrument and some half dozen for viola (he played both violin and viola extremely well). But real Hindemith has a cutting lyrical gift, much of  it is on display in his kinky opera…

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