Crime, punishment, forgiveness, redemption: Dead Man Walking finally reaches London

By David Karlin, 21 February 2018

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“the opera asks more questions than it answers: can we really forgive such appalling crimes?”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 20 February 2018

Heggie, Dead Man Walking

Mark Wigglesworth, Conductor

Leonard Foglia, Director

Measha Brueggergosman, Sister Rose

Maria Zifchak, Mrs. Patrick De Rocher

Joyce DiDonato, Sister Helen Prejean

Michael Mayes, Joseph De Rocher

Susan Bickley, Jade Boucher

Susan Bullock, Kitty Hart

Toni Marsol, Owen Hart

Michael Bracegirdle, Father Grenville

Mark Le Brocq, Howard Boucher

James Creswell, George Benton

BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Singers

Singers from Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Finchley Children's Music Group

Heggie’s newly staged Moby Dick lands triumphantly at the Met

Susan Stempleski, 11th March

Fifteen years after its Dallas Opera world premiere, Jake Heggie’s grand adaptation of Herman Melville’s sprawling epic arrives in New York in a stunning production with a standout cast.

*****

Heggie creates a new holiday tradition for the opera world

Donna Stoering, 20th November

A wonderfully realized production at San Francisco Opera of Jake Heggie's operatic version of a holiday classic.

*****

Spanish première for Heggie's Dead Man Walking

Fernando Remiro, 29th January

Jake Heggie's story of redemption captivated the Teatro Real audience thanks to a solid cast and an effective production

****1

The heart of the sea: Moby-Dick

Matthew Richard Martinez, 7th November

American composer Jake Heggie makes his Los Angeles Opera debut in this powerful performance of his 2010 opera, Moby-Dick.

****1

Cold Mountain: Higdon's maiden operatic voyage

Michael Wade Simpson, 17th August

There was a nod to John Adams in the score, but also a kind of edgy Americana, complete with powerful writing for male chorus, and an attempt to communicate the flavor of rural North Carolina, not far from where Higdon grew up.

****1

History repeats itself…life goes on…

Christie Grimstad, 25th April

The José “Pepe” Martínez/Leonard Foglia collaborative team returns to explore Mexico’s volatile history, search of one’s self, wrought with emotional strife in this beautifully woven Mariachi opera.

***11

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David Karlin

David is a co-founder of Bachtrack. He is a musical omnivore interested in almost all types of music, but with a particular love of Italian opera. You can contact him from this link.