Heather Johnson gives Carmen new meaning in Baltimore

By Raisa Massuda, 08 May 2013

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Reviewed at The Engineers Club: Grand Ballroom, Baltimore on 3 May 2013

Bizet, Carmen

Baltimore Concert Opera

Ronald Gretz, Conductor

Tim Ribchester, Piano

Heather Johnson, Carmen

Benjamin Warschawski, Don José

Timothy Mix, Escamillo

Colleen Daly, Micaëla

Emily Ezzie, Frasquita

Melissa Kornacki, Mercédès

David B. Morris, Zuniga

Greg Hoyt, Moralès

Jason Widney, Le Dancaïre

David Sadlier, Le Remendado

The arts rule: evocative Lakmé in Baltimore

Phillip Nones, 3rd May

The Baltimore Concert Opera overcomes two major obstacles – a city under siege and the illness of the lead singer – to present a thoroughly engaging performance of Leo Delibes' Lakme.

***11

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

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Raisa Massuda

A firm believer in the importance of music at any age, Raisa teaches Opera Appreciation Seminars in a Senior Center in Baltimore, MD. She has launched a Live Opera for Seniors series, allowing her low-income students to study and attend free. Raisa is the author of a music and opera blog called Mandolin Vision.