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Morning Wagner at the Los Angeles Philharmonic

By Maria Nockin, 28 April 2017

Maestro Jordan did not present a cut down version of the score. Every instrument Wagner called for was on stage, even the six harps, but the only sung piece was Brünnhilde’s Immolation.

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Morning Wagner at the LA Phil

28 Apr 2017

San Francisco Opera opens new season with Giordano's Andrea Chénier

By Maria Nockin, 9 September 2016

Andrea Chénier returns to San Francisco Opera after a long absence, in Sir David McVicar's realistic production.

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SF Opera opens new season with Andrea Chénier

9 Sept 2016

Consummate good taste: Amanda Majeski stars in a superb Santa Fe Capriccio

By Maria Nockin, 5 August 2016

Maestro Leo Hussain’s translucent rendition of the score made Capriccio the crowning glory of the Santa Fe Opera Season.

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Majeski stars in a superb Santa Fe Capriccio

5 Aug 2016

Santa Fe Opera Stages Puccini's Fanciulla del West

By Maria Nockin, 2 August 2016

Richard Jones's production of Puccini’s Western opera La fanciulla del West is well sung, but fails to tap in to the Wild West atmosphere of the surroundings.

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Santa Fe Opera Stages Puccini's Fanciulla del West

2 Aug 2016

A thoughtful Don Giovanni at Santa Fe

By Maria Nockin, 1 August 2016

In Ron Daniels' production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Santa Fe Opera, the specter of death and the possibility of judgment is always center stage.

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A thoughtful Don Giovanni at Santa Fe

1 Aug 2016

Vanessa: a winter storm in Santa Fe's desert

By Maria Nockin, 30 July 2016

Samuel Barber's Vanessa, with a libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, is rarely staged, but Santa Fe makes a tremendous case for the opera.

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Vanessa: a winter storm in Santa Fe's desert

30 Jul 2016

Santa Fe Opera stages an updated Roméo et Juliette

By Maria Nockin, 29 July 2016

Santa Fe Opera presented Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in Stephen Lawless’ mid 19th-century staging, a co-production with Barcelona's Liceu. Before the overture, General Director Charles MacKay came onstage to announce that Stephen Costello was ill and would be replaced by Joshua Guerrero, a graduate of the Los Angeles Opera Young Artist Program.

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An updated Roméo et Juliette at Santa Fe

29 Jul 2016

A Carmen for Our Time from Bieito in San Francisco

By Maria Nockin, 27 May 2016

Calixto Bieito’s production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen isn't without controversy. San Francisco Opera gave us raw sexuality unvarnished by any degree of social refinement.

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A Carmen for Our Time from Bieito in San Francisco

27 May 2016

Definitive Pelléas and Mélisande at the LA Phil

By Maria Nockin, 19 February 2016

Great opera at the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande as part of the City of Light, a retrospective that examines works seen in Paris during the first half of the 20th century.

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Definitive Pelléas and Mélisande at the LA Phil

19 Feb 2016

Die Meistersinger: A rewarding operatic marathon in San Francisco

By Maria Nockin, 18 November 2015

This performance marked Sir Mark Elder’s debut with the company and, beginning with the overture, he offered his individual interpretation of the score. He had an enormous range of dynamics and his tempi varied widely with the emotional values of each scene.

*****

A rewarding operatic marathon in San Francisco

18 Nov 2015

Playing the operatic villain: Interview with Jay Hunter Morris

Playing the operatic villain: Interview with Jay Hunter Morris

By Maria Nockin, 20 July 2015

As a tenor, Jay Hunter Morris is used to playing the love interest. In Jennifer Higdon’s new opera Cold Mountain, which receives its world première on 1 August at Santa Fe Opera, the tables are turned and he gets to portray a nasty, dark villain himself.

20 Jul 2015