Two star sopranos, Renée Fleming and Sonya Yoncheva, held court in two of New York’s grandest venues on Sunday.
Tag Archives: Opera
Taylor Mac Enfolds Everyone in “The Hang,” an Operatic Opportunity for Communion.
This opera, by Mac and Matt Ray, is as much a celebration of theater itself as it is an example of the communion humans crave but have been deprived of.
One Opera Opening Would Make Any Composer Happy. He Has Two.
Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Intimate Apparel” and “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” are premiering in New York almost simultaneously.
Love, Trust and Heartbreak on Two Stages
The musical “Hadestown” and the opera “Eurydice” aim to offer new twists on a Greek myth. But when it comes to their heroine, they only go so far.
4 Operas in 48 Hours: A Critic’s Marathon at the Met
Amid the virus surge, the company is performing “Rigoletto,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Tosca” and “La Bohème” in close succession.
‘Rigoletto’ at the Met Unites a Father and Daughter. Again.
Quinn Kelsey and Rosa Feola have earned raves playing a jester and his child in a new production of Verdi’s opera.
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Mezzo-Sopranos
Listen to the warm, rich sound of Marilyn Horne, Janet Baker, Grace Bumbry and more.
12 Things Our Critics Are Looking Forward to in 2022
‘Better Call Saul’ returns, Cecily Strong stars in a one-woman show, and Faith Ringgold gets an overdue retrospective.
5 Classical Music Albums to Hear Right Now
Music by Liza Lim and Pamela Z, albums of Vivaldi and Walter Piston and work from a classic conductor are some recent recording highlights.
The Met Opera Spirits ‘Rigoletto’ to ‘Babylon Berlin’
As the Omicron variant looms, Bartlett Sher’s production of Verdi’s classic is set to open on New Year’s Eve.
Met Opera Finds a New Generation of Fans
Drawn by cheaper tickets and a sense of glamour, New Yorkers in their 20s and 30s are making their way to the Met this season, many of them for the first time.
Arts Groups Bet Big on Holiday Programming. Will Children Come?
Children 5 and over must now have proof of vaccination to see shows and visit museums. As Covid-19 surges, arts organizations are trying to welcome their youngest audience members safely.
Broadway Is Canceling Shows Due to Positive Covid Tests
Broadway, where cancellations were once vanishingly rare, has seen a raft of them as positive coronavirus tests among cast and crew members have upended productions.
Met Opera to Mandate Booster Shots for Staff and Audiences
It is the first major performing arts institution to require boosters, as concern mounts over rising coronavirus cases and the spread of the Omicron variant. The rule will take effect Jan. 17.
The 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2021
Classics by Bach, Mozart and Brahms and new works by Andy Akiho, Angélica Negrón and Tyshawn Sorey were among our favorite recordings this year.
Rolando Villazón Returns to the Met Opera in Mozart’s “Magic Flute”
Rolando Villazón, a onetime star plagued by vocal issues, is returning to the house after eight years for “The Magic Flute.”
‘The Snowy Day,’ a Children’s Classic, Becomes an Opera
Based on the popular 1962 children’s book, the show aims to celebrate Blackness and attract new audiences to the art form.
Best Classical Music of 2021
The Metropolitan Opera returned with its first work by a Black composer, the repertory slowly got richer, and other highlights of the year.
At 80, Robert Wilson Holds On to a Singular Vision for the Stage
Slowed but not stopped by the pandemic, Wilson has had a busy fall that continues with his production of “Turandot” at the Paris Opera.
Covid Restrictions Are Back at Some of Europe’s Theaters
Strict controls on playhouses and music venues are returning as the continent deals with a new coronavirus wave.
‘I Savor Everything’: A Soprano’s Star Turn at the Met Opera
Erin Morley, a fixture at the Met for over a decade, is now singing the title role in “Eurydice.”
Review: The Met Opera’s ‘Eurydice’ Tries to Raise the Dead
The composer Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s teeming, wearying adaptation of her play is a contemporary vision of the Orpheus myth.
Review: The Met Opera’s Next ‘Ring’ Will Be a Sea Change
Richard Jones’s bleak staging of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” in London offers a clean break from the extravagance of the Met’s most recent production.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Is New York’s Conductor Now
After facing anger during a prolonged labor dispute, the Met Opera’s music director has returned to the podium, emphasizing new work.
If Remote Work Empties Downtowns, Can Theaters Fill Their Seats?
Since the pandemic, San Francisco has embraced work-from-home policies. Now venues and concert halls are wondering if weeknight audiences are a thing of the past.
The Stakes Are Sky-High for a ‘Ring’ Coming to the Met Opera
For Richard Jones, the director of a staging that will open in London and later travel to New York, this is a third attempt at Wagner’s epic.
Marian Anderson: A Voice of Authenticity and Justice
A new box set explores the singer whose Lincoln Memorial concert was a 20th-century civil rights milestone.
How Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter Realized His Dream: an Opera
“Iphigenia,” an update of the ancient Greek myth eight years in the making and decades in the dreaming, will begin a run of performances this month.
Review: ‘Porgy and Bess’ Returns to a New Opera Landscape
The Metropolitan Opera’s revival boasts strong performances but raises difficult questions about race and American music.
A 6-Hour Opera in a Pandemic? The Met Goes for It.
As some try to lure audiences back with short programs, the Metropolitan Opera is staging its longest work: Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger.”
A New Era Takes Shape at the World’s Opera Capital
Serge Dorny and Vladimir Jurowski, the leaders of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, are starting their tenure with Shostakovich’s unruly “The Nose.”
After 24 Years, a Conductor Returns to the Met Opera
Antonio Pappano is back for Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” at a turning point in his career.
Go See These Black Operas
Acquired taste is often richer than, as it were, the easy score.
She’s Making History in Opera. Can She Help Ensure Its Future?
Eun Sun Kim is the first woman to serve as music director of one of America’s largest opera companies. She aims to broaden the art form’s appeal in the digital age.
Visconti’s Operatic Autopsy of German History, Restored Anew
The trilogy of “The Damned,” “Death in Venice” and “Ludwig” is whole again, in editions that freshly reveal their conflicted queerness.
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Maria Callas
Listen to the best of opera’s defining diva, chosen by Patti LuPone, Renée Fleming, Marina Abramovic and many more.
Jazz and Opera Come Together in ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’
Two critics discuss Terence Blanchard’s “Fire,” the Metropolitan Opera’s first work by a Black composer.
Review: In ‘Upload,’ Do Blockchains Dream of Electric Lizards?
Michel van der Aa’s new opera weaves technology into a traditional form with masterly restraint for a sci-fi spin on a fundamentally human tale.
It Wasn’t Just My Life on That Stage. So Was My Purpose.
My memoir, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” became more than just a book. It was an opportunity to reach and help more people.
Review: After a Met Opera Milestone, ‘Boris’ Brings Another
The company is performing the terse, original 1869 version of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” for the first time.
Metropolitan Opera Returns With ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’
With Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” the Met came back from its long pandemic shutdown more determined to draw new and more diverse audiences to opera.
‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’ Review: A Black Composer at the Met, Finally
Terence Blanchard’s fresh, affecting “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” reopened the opera house on Monday after an 18-month closure.
Packing Your Purse (or Pockets) for a Night at the Opera
Melissa Clark takes in the drama with a side of snacks, neat and petite, to sustain her through the highs and lows.
Stream an Operatic Rarity by a Black Composer (While You Can)
William Grant Still’s “Highway 1, U.S.A.,” staged by Opera Theater of St. Louis, is available online until Sept. 30.
Terence Blanchard,
Terence Blanchard, a jazz trumpeter best known for scoring Spike Lee films, reopens the opera house with “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”
A Cabaret Star and an Opera Star Walk Onto a Stage …
The punchline is “Only an Octave Apart,” featuring the unlikely collaborators Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Roth Costanzo at St. Ann’s Warehouse.
Fake Rock Nearly Crushes Opera Star: Accident or Sabotage?
Feuding stagehands, falling props: It might sound like the plot of an opera, but in France it has been the subject of a court case.
Review: In ‘Sun & Sea,’ We Laze Away the End of the World
Seemingly sweet yet insistently ominous, this opera installation turns a sandy beach into a spectacle of a changing climate.
With a Rare ‘Oedipe,’ the Paris Opera Pulls Together
Staged by the playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad, Enescu’s opera helps inaugurate a new era for the storied company.
A Climate Opera Arrives in New York, With 21 Tons of Sand
“Sun & Sea,” an operatic installation that won the top prize at the Venice Biennale, is being staged at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.