Operatic righteous anger or self-indulgence?

By Hilary Stroh, 15 November 2015

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Reviewed at Kennedy Center: Opera House, Washington on 14 November 2015

Glass, Appomattox (World Premiere of Revised Version)

Washington National Opera

Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor

Tazewell Thompson, Director

Donald Eastman, Set Designer

Merrily Murray-Walsh, Costume Designer

David Pittsinger, General Robert E. Lee, Edgar Ray Killen

Richard Paul Fink, General Ulysses S. Grant

Tom Fox, Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson

Melody Moore, Julia Dent Grant

Robert Brubaker, Wilmer McLean

Anne-Carolyn Bird, Mary Todd Lincoln

Robert Baker, Edward Alexander

Aleksey Bogdanov, John Rawlins

Soloman Howard, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Washington National Opera Orchestra

Washington National Opera marches onward with a joyous Treemonisha

Sam Jacobson, 15th March

A vibrant new production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha at Washington National Opera underscores the opera’s enduring message of education, community and social justice.

****1

WNO's Samson et Dalila shows how sweet love's poison can sound

Sydney Boyd, 1st March

Strong singing but a stellar orchestra and staging make for a riveting production at the Kennedy Center.

****1

A #metoo Don Giovanni at Washington National Opera

Sydney Boyd, 29th February

Lots of people talk about keeping opera relevant. WNO shows why this opera always has been.

****1

Washington National Opera's merry take on Mozart's Magic Flute

Sydney Boyd, 2nd November

Could The Magic Flute be the next Nutcracker? A child-friendly take on the classic in a mash-up of pyramids and petticoats.

***11

Russell Thomas shines in gloomy David Alden's Otello

Vishnu Bachani, 26th October

The combination of a strong, spirited cast and a first-rate orchestral performance led by Daniele Callegari rendered the opera a moving experience in spite of drab staging and latent, unexplored tensions.

***11

Venera Gimadieva leads a moving Traviata in DC

Ako Imamura, 21st October

A strong new Traviata from Washington National Opera with the welcome house debut of Venera Gimadieva as a fabulous Violetta.

****1

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Hilary Stroh

Hilary is an independent scholar and academic historian, based in DC. She has a background in violin, piano and ballet. Educated at Dublin and Cambridge, she has recently published her first two books.

Operatic righteous anger or self-indulgence? Philip Glass' Appomattox Take 2