Opera

Album Review: Minx’s “The Cloistered Order” — A Captivating Blend of Tempos and Dynamics

June 1, 2023
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Like Thin Lizzy, Minx marries metallic thunder with melodic structures and lyrics worth listening to.

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Opera Album Review: Zoroastre and His Sun Worshipers Vanquish Louts in a World-Premiere Recording of Rameau’s 1749 Opera

May 26, 2023
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Some of France’s best early-music singers and a splendid period-instrument band make this Zoroastre a perfect introduction to the pleasures of Baroque music.

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Opera Album Review: Jonathan Berger’s “Mỹ Lai” — A Miniature Masterpiece

May 24, 2023
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Jonathan Berger’s remarkable chamber opera about the Mỹ Lai Massacre is a powerful artistic and anti-war statement.

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Opera Review: “HER | alive.un.dead” — The Sacrifices We Make in the Name of Love

May 20, 2023
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HER | alive.un.dead proves that some stories are best told by trusting the audience’s imagination.

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Opera Album Review: “Naughty Saint Vitalis” Targets Celibacy in the Priesthood

May 16, 2023
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Swiss composer Richard Flury’s engaging comic opera is a celebration of the life spirit, and a criticism of celibacy as a practice that cramps and distorts an individual’s basic humanity.

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Opera Album Review: A One-Hit Wonder Hits Another One Out of the Park

May 8, 2023
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A marvelous first recording of a highly engaging opera by Baroque composer Bernardo Pasquini, known until recently for a single piece: “The Cuckoo.”

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Classical Concert Review: Boston Baroque’s “Iphigénie en Tauride”

April 22, 2023
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By Aaron Keebaugh Lithe and economical, Boston Baroque’s superb production of Iphigénie en Tauride proved the old adage that less can be more. Iphigénie en Tauride, an opera in four acts. Libretto by Nicolas-François Guillard. Music by Christoph Willibald Gluck. Performed by Boston Baroque. Martin Pearlman, conductor. Mo Zhou, stage director. At GBH’s Calderwood Studio,…

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Opera Album Review: The Love of a Fish-Man for a Terrestrial Woman, French-Baroque Style

April 12, 2023
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A masterful composer of French Baroque violin sonatas displays another side of his immense talent in this first-rate new recording of his Scylla et Glaucus.

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Opera Album Review: A Major German Baroque Opera — Reinhard Keiser’s “Ulysses” Gets a Spiffy Recording

March 28, 2023
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Photo: Anton Saecki.

All in all, an ear-opening introduction to an important opera composer — and to the little-known tradition of German-language (with Italian touches) Baroque opera.

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Opera Album Review: A Groundbreaking French Grand Opera Receives Its First Major Commercial Recording

March 25, 2023
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Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable paved the way for major works by Meyerbeer himself, Halévy, Verdi, Wagner (in German), Saint-Saëns, Massenet, and others — and this splendid performance shows why.

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