Karen Kamensek at Lincoln Center's Summer for the City

Gabriella Reyes and Karen Kamensek

Karen Kamensek conducts the Summer for the City Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center

By David Wolfson, 02 August 2025

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“something like a cross between a contemporary aria and a torch song”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, New York City on 1 August 2025

Ibert, Divertissement

Britten, Les Illuminations, for soprano or tenor and strings, Op.18

Golijov, Three Songs

Bizet, Symphony in C major

Gabriella Reyes, Soprano

Summer for the City Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center

Karen Kamensek, Conductor

Joana Carneiro and James Ehnes in Summer for the City

David Wolfson, 5th August

Joana Carneiro, the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center and music by Frank, Shostakovich, Ravel and Prokofiev fused into something that transcended them all.

*****

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.

*****

San Francisco Opera's The Handmaid's Tale offers hope

Lois Silverstein, 14th September

John Fulljames directs a new production of Poul Ruders' uncompromising operatic take on Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel.

****1

Muted passions in Royal Opera Tosca revival

Roy Westbrook, 5th February

A revival low on dramatic power and emotional temperature, despite a fine Royal Opera debut by conductor Karen Kamensek.

***11

English National Opera revives Akhnaten to spectacular effect

Mark Valencia, 11th March

Philip Glass' operatic take on Ancient Egyptian history returns to the Coliseum in Phelim McDermott's hypnotic production, complete with jugglers...

*****

Musical tapas with the LPO: dishes packed with Spanish flavour

Dominic Lowe, 13th January

Despite the big Spanish beasts like Rodrigo and de Falla, it is a small work by contemporary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz that packs the biggest punch in this programme.

***11

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David Wolfson

David Wolfson holds a PhD in composition from Rutgers University, and has taught at Rutgers University, Montclair State University and Hunter College. He is enjoying an eclectic career, having composed opera, musical theatre, touring children’s musicals, and incidental music for plays; choral music, band music, orchestral music, chamber music, art songs, and music for solo piano; comedy songs, cabaret songs and one memorable score for an amusement park big-headed-costumed-character show. You can find more information here.

Missed opportunities: Karen Kamensek at Lincoln Center's Summer for the City