Glimmerglass' little Aida makes a huge impact

By Gale Martin, 07 August 2012

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Reviewed at Alice Busch Opera Theater, Cooperstown on 4 August 2012

Verdi, Aida

Glimmerglass Opera

Nader Abbassi, Conductor

Francesca Zambello, Director

Michelle Johnson, Aida

Noah Stewart, Radamès

Eric Owens, Amonasro

Daveda Karanas, Amneris

A dark, delicious take on Elizabeth Cree at Glimmerglass Festival

Cameron Kelsall, 28th July

Mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught anchors a fluid and appealingly staged new production of Kevin Puts' penny dreadful.

****1

Child's play: inventive, moving Rinaldo at Glimmerglass

Cameron Kelsall, 31st July

Director Louisa Proske refracts Handel's tale of warlords and witches through the prism of a juvenile dream world, aided by a game cast headed by Anthony Roth Costanzo.

****1

Simon Godwin directs Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at Glimmerglass

Edward Sava-Segal, 30th July

The English theatre directs turns his hand to opera with a staging of Gounod's take on Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers.

****1

Brian Vu and Meredith Arwady shine in Glimmerglass Candide

David Wolfson, 8th July

Glimmerglass Opera Festival’s production of Candide leans heavily on a dry comedic sensibility, which most of the cast execute admirably.

***11

Carmen at Glimmerglass: visually striking, dramatically inconsistent

Cameron Kelsall, 18th July

Denyce Graves, once the reigning Carmen of her day, directs a new production full of interesting choices that rarely cohere.

**111

A streamlined Trovatore at the Glimmerglass Festival

Cameron Kelsall, 7th August

Rising mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis offers a gorgeously sung and grippingly acted portrait of Verdi's gypsy.

****1

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Gale Martin

Based on the East Coast, Gale is an award-winning writer on the performing arts, books, literature and popular culture. She has just published Don Juan in Hankey and you can read her Operatoonity blog. Her articles have appeared in numerous anthologies.