Albert Herring earns the crown at Curtis Opera Theatre

By Cameron Kelsall, 06 March 2020

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“Eve Summer piquantly captures the state of life in an insular English village”

Reviewed at Kimmel Center, Perelman Theater, Philadelphia on 5 March 2020

Britten, Albert Herring

Curtis Opera Theatre

George Manahan, Conductor

Eve Summer, Director

Julia Noulin-Mérat, Set Designer

Ethan Burck, Albert Herring

Ruby Dibble, Mrs. Herring

Merissa Beddows, Lady Billows

Anastasiia Sidorova, Florence Pike

Lindsey Reynolds, Miss Wordsworth

Andrew Moore, Mr Gedge

Colin Aikins, Mr Upfold

Thomas Petrushka, Superintendent Budd

Ben Schaefer, Sid

Sophia Maekawa, Nancy

Miloš Repický, Piano

Members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Curtis Opera Theatre does Barbiere... and Rossini wins

Susan Gould, 22nd November

In Barbiere, the humor is constantly in the music So this staging was best when the director didn't impose anything but followed and respected the text and especially the music.

***11

Mozart's Don Giovanni overwhelmed by pianos

Susan Gould, 8th March

Curtis Institute singers and orchestra rescue Mozart's Don Giovanni from being overwhelmed by pianos.

**111

Curtis Opera Theater's Ariadne auf Naxos

David Browning, 4th March

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale about a great conservatory production of Ariadne auf Naxos, with wonderful singing and visual delights aplenty.

****1

Odyssey Opera presents Menotti’s The Last Savage

Kevin Wells, 13th March

Odyssey Opera makes a convincing case that The Last Savage’s time has come.

*****

A sorta fairy tale: Sleepers Awake premieres at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd April

A new opera by Gregory Spears subverts the Sleeping Beauty trope, with middling results.

**111

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

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Cameron Kelsall

Cameron Kelsall is a classical music critic and cultural reporter. He has written for Bachtrack since 2019, and his byline has appeared in many national and international classical music publications. Based in Philadelphia, he regularly travels around the United States for musical events. In addition to his career in journalism, Cameron also teaches in the Theatre Arts program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a certified sommelier and avid home cook. His favorite composer is Mahler. Twitter: @CameronPKelsall.