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Barrie Kosky's stark, spare La bohème gave it a rare spark of humanity focused on Marina Costa-Jackson's haunting Mimì, whose existence became the central focus even when she wasn't singing.

As Zaharia inhabited her role, the opera became almost entirely about her, to the extent that one wanted to watch her every movement and hear her every syllable.

Any parallels between Rome in the first century under Emperor Titus and the United States two millennia later under Emperor Trump were lost in a Tinseltown graphic novel sweep.

Susan Graham had all the fun every mezzo-soprano witch, who can sing the role and disguise herself – when necessary – to look the part, deserves. 

With a potent cast and excellent dancing, this is a sophisticated take on Gluck's opera. 

Whether it’s half an opera, three quarters an operetta, or a musical and a half, Francesca Zambello’s team put together a production that was easy to fall in love with. 

Monstyrska dominates as Abigaille, Domingo brings his unique baritenor style to the title role, Thaddeus Strassberger creates a riot of colour and antiquarian style.

Another evocative salute to Slava in Washington DC/

James Conlon led the CSO in Schubert’s Unfinished symphony and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Lied.  Mixed fortunes were had for the singers in the latter, but Conlon and the orchestra provided probing performances throughout.

In Los Angeles, Patricia Racette was an impressive Salome but the orchestra was, as it should, the main character.

Mozart's intoxicating harem opera taken captive by the non-singing despot.

On Saturday night, nine androgynous, saucy, rambunctious dancing witches with thick, three-foot tails and exuberant tassels, whose heritage included the Wizard of Oz and the Lion King, stole the show. 

James Conlon led the SFS from the sombre moods of Britten to the gaiety of Dvořák.

James Conlon lead the CSO in a selection of four rarely heard works.

Angela Meade is the standout on opening night of Los Angeles Opera's Norma.

American composer Jake Heggie makes his Los Angeles Opera debut in this powerful performance of his 2010 opera, Moby-Dick.

In James Conlon's final performance as music director of Ravinia, he presented a magnificent Flying Dutchman with a stellar cast.

Director Trevore Ross emphasized the silly and the madcap in Beaumarchais’ hectic plot to The Barber of Seville. The audience loved it. 

A triumph for Los Angeles Opera's new production of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles.

The Met's revival of Shostakovich's satirical opera of an oppressed Russian housewife's tragedy is a must-see event of the season.

Matthew Richard Martinez reviews Los Angeles Opera's season-opening performance of Verdi's La traviata starring Plácido Domingo, Nino Machaidze, and Arturo Chacón-Cruz.

A concert of many virtues, laying bare Verdi's music only made it better. James Conlon conducts I vespri siciliani in Madrid.

Billed as “Midori performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto”, this Orchestre symphonique de Montréal concert conducted by James Colon was notable for a blazing performance of Zemlinsky's symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau.

“It is not his trial, it is mine, mine. It is I whom the devil awaits.” Richard Croft's Vere leads an outstanding cast in LA Opera's revival of Billy Budd.

If you are going to see Verdi’s I due Foscari, this production is likely the way to do it. Although this production is by no means unflawed, there are several reasons that it is a must-see for opera fans in Vienna.

In the bicentenary anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi, tributes are aplenty. On Saturday evening, Los Angeles Opera presented a new production of the Italian master’s final work, Falstaff, though that wasn’t all.

This is the one Britten work scheduled by the Metropolitan Opera this year, in Tim Albery’s production from 1996, revived most recently in 2002. The psychological designs are infused with such colour that the staging in no way shows its age.

While the term “Eurotrash” gets thrown around more often than it should, it is one that has unfortunately become synonymous with many of the Wagner opera productions that take a non-traditional approach. As opera-goers go, I tend to sympathize with the directors and find that this approach can work fantastically well in bringing Wagner’s logistically impossible scenarios to life.

Almost any singer with Plácido Domingo’s résumé would be happily retired from the stage at age 71, but Domingo is obviously not any singer. With over 140 roles performed, the Spanish tenor’s legacy is unparalleled, and that legacy is still growing.

In recent seasons the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal has had a tradition of crafting remarkably excellent programs which not only entertain, but suggest a dramatic or historical link between the featured works. Tonight was no exception: it was a program united by dances, by Spain and by Impressionism. Most strikingly, it was an evening featuring brilliant orchestrators.

What makes for a good performance of Don Giovanni? Some have called it the greatest drama in opera, and with music by Mozart at the height of his compositional powers, its status as a masterpiece of Classical music is undisputed. Los Angeles Opera’s opening night production had elements both outstanding and troubled.

How gratifying that James Conlon briefly introduced the rationale for this Philadelphia Orchestra concert, which turned out to be entirely divorced from the nostalgic ‘Memories of Prague’ that its title suggested. Instead, what I had presumed to be coincidental key signatures were in fact the link: an exploration of D minor (with a side of D major).

After the success of Benjamin Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia, Britten and director/librettist Eric Crozier discussed future operatic projects. The composer wanted his next opera to be a comedy and insisted that it be set in England. When Crozier suggested adapting Guy de Maupassant’s La Rosier de Madame Husson, Britten knew he was on to something good. Indeed, it was an ideal choice.

La visita de Plácido Domingo al Teatro Real, si bien se sucede cada año, no deja de ser un evento de relevancia, especialmente para seguir constatando como el que fue tenor y ahora se exhibe en papeles de barítono sigue pisando las tablas del escenario con convicción y vitalidad.

Tatiana Serjan sticht in einer ansonst soliden Macbeth-Inszenierug von Christian Räth hervor.

Carlos Álvarez und Simon Keenlyside sind ein Duo Infernale: wer Falstaff mag, wird nicht so schnell einen besseren erleben.

La noche trasfigurada copó la velada gracias a una sección de cuerdas que logró efectuar una interpretación memorable de esta obra maestra, no sin el mérito también del director James Conlon, que ofreció una versión pausada y cuidadosa con la arquitectura armónica de la composición. Al otro lado de la balanza, la Sinfonía lírica de Alexander Zemlinsky, un compositor cuyo nombre aparece habitualmente ensombrecido por el genio de Schönberg.

A sus 76 años, nuestro mito viviente triunfa en el final de la temporada lírica madrileña, en una version concierto semiescenificada, y acompañado de un solvente cartel vocal.

L’Orchestre Symphonique National de la Rai et son chef, James Conlon, ont occupé la scène de l’Auditorium Parco della Musica pour une soirée entièrement dédiée au compositeur tchèque Antonín Dvořák.

Un interesante y desigual sexteto de cantantes para la versión concierto de una de las obras menos representadas de Verdi.  

S'il existait, à l'image des ouragans, une échelle de puissance dans laquelle classer les concertos pour piano, nul doute que le second de Prokofiev se situerait au degré le plus élevé, dans la catégorie des machines les plus dévastatrices. Ce 14 janvier, Trifonov a résolu comme peut-être personne avant lui la largeur de vision de ces pages immortelles.

Chowanschtschina ist ein Gesamtkunstwerk, das an der Wiener Staatsoper nicht mit der Regie, doch mit musikalischen Leistungen besticht.