Glittering Candide: a celebration at Carnegie Hall

By Robert Levine, 20 April 2018

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“I suspect the title role has found an ideal interpreter in tenor Paul Appleby”

Reviewed at Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium, New York City on 18 April 2018

Bernstein, Candide (Concert Version)

Rob Fisher, Conductor

Gary Griffin, Director

Tracy Christensen, Costume Designer

Paul Appleby, Candide

Erin Morley, Cunegonde

Patricia Racette, Old Lady

William Burden, Governor

John Lithgow, Doctor Pangloss

Bryonha Marie Parham, Paquette

Ryan Silverman, Maximilian

Marilyn Horne, Mezzo-soprano

Joshua Bergasse, Choreography

Wendall K Harrington, Video

Orchestra of St Luke's

Lyric Opera of Chicago goes proto-American with Oklahoma!

Dan Wang, 5th May

The Lyric Opera ends their 2013–14 season with a run of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, in all its frothy, proto-American, miked glory. Pluck is in evidence throughout.

***11

Off with Their Heads!

Kristina Powers, 11th December

“Off with their heads!” I vividly recall being terrorized as a preschooler hearing Walt Disney’s sadistic, loud-mouthed Queen of Hearts thunder these signature lines. I have since learned that decapitation as capital punishment is not exclusive to the fictional Queen of Hearts of Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney, but rather grim historical reality.

****1

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

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***11

Anna Netrebko shines in Vienna’s timeless Tosca

Laura Servidei, 18th April

In a world where opera productions often stray into the abstract, the Wiener Staatsoper’s Tosca offers a refreshing return to tradition – and Anna Netrebko delivers a splendid performance.

****1

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Robert Levine

Robert T. Levine is a New York born-and-bred music writer with a particular interest in music for the voice. His work has appeared in many periodicals and newspapers. He is the author of many books, including The Story of the Orchestra, four volumes in the Black Dog & Leventhal Opera Library, and, most recently, Maria Callas: A Musical Biography.