Heartbeat Opera's Faust: an economical deal with the devil

John Taylor Ward (Méphistophélès) and Orson Van Gay II (Faust)

John Taylor Ward (Méphistophélès) and Rachel Kobernick (Marguerite)

Orson Van Gay II (Faust)

Rachel Kobernick (Marguerite) and AddieRose Brown (Siébel)

Par Kurt Gottschalk, 18 mai 2025

Chargement en cours, veuillez patienter...

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“Gounod’s polyphony in particular was rendered beautifully”

Critique faite à Baruch College: Baruch Performing Arts Center, New York, le 15 mai 2025

Gounod, Faust (arr. Francisco Ladrón de Guevara)

Heartbeat Opera

Jacob Ashworth, Direction

Sara Holdren, Mise en scène

Yichen Zhou, Décors, Lumières

Elivia Bovenzi Blitz, Costumes

Forest Entsminger, Décors

Orson Van Gay II, Faust

Rachel Kobernick, Marguerite

John Taylor Ward, Méphistophélès

Alex DeSocio, Valentin

AddieRose Brown, Siebel

Eliza Bonet, Marthe

Brandon Bell, Wagner

Shockingly good fun: Heartbeat Opera’s Salome

Kevin W Ng, 11th February

Heartbeat Opera’s chamber Salome marries musical ingenuity with dramatic clarity at The Space at Irondale.

*****

Queer longing: Heartbeat Opera's bold Onegin

Kevin W Ng, 4th April

A strong young cast heads Dustin Wills' reimagining of Eugene Onegin for New York's most innovative opera company, Heartbeat Opera.

***11

A powerful, imperfect Tosca relocated to Tehran

Kurt Gottschalk, 11th April

Last year, the upstart Heartbeat Opera impressively reimagined Fidelio for the Black Lives Matter era. Their new Tosca places the tragic opera about an opera singer in a land where women have been banned from singing.

***11

LvB meets #BLM in Heartbeat Opera's Fidelio

Kurt Gottschalk, 10th February

Heartbeat’s Fidelio is a dramatic reworking in every sense of the term. It’s bold and unflinching, borrowing from Beethoven to tell tales too horrible to tell.

****1

Siegfried et l’art du chant au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Pierre Michel, 19th April

Pour ce troisième volet du Ring proposé en version de concert par Yannick Nézet-Séguin et l'Orchestre philharmonique de Rotterdam, c'est le plateau vocal qui brille avant tout, éclipsant l'orchestre et le chef.

***11

Michael Fabiano fait trembler le Capitole dans Otello

Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer, 14th April

Pour ses débuts à Toulouse, le ténor américain se distingue dans le rôle-titre de l'ouvrage verdien. Mise en scène, plateau vocal et fosse s'associent parfaitement pour livrer la quintessence du drame.

*****

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Kurt Gottschalk

Kurt Gottschalk is a journalist and author based in New York City. His writings on contemporary and classical music, jazz and improvisation have been published in outlets throughout Europe and America and he has two volumes of short fiction to his name. He produced and hosted the Miniature Minotaurs radio programme on WFMU and currently hosts Afternoon New Music on WKCR.