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Celebrating AVA’s 85th year: an outstanding Le nozze di Figaro in Philadelphia

By Susan Gould, 18 November 2019
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“the entire cast was vocally first-rate, all giving distinctive portrayals”
Reviewed at The Academy of Vocal Arts: Warden Theater, Philadelphia on 12 November 2019
Programme
Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Performers
Academy of Vocal Arts
Christofer Macatsoris, Conductor
David Gately, Director
Peter Harrison, Set Designer
Val Starr, Costume Designer
Kara Mulder, Countess Almaviva
Aubry Ballarò-Hagadorn, Susanna
Pascale Spinney, Cherubino
Timothy Murray, Count Almaviva
Brent Michael Smith, Figaro
Cody Müller, Doctor Bartolo
Emily Margevich, Barbarina
Chelsea Laggan, Marcellina
Griffen Hogan Tracy, Antonio
AVA Opera Orchestra
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A modern framing device drives home the sad timelessness of Britten's 1946 opera.
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Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts Presents Gounod’s *Roméo et Juliette* with a fine young cast at the Haverford School. 
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Superb AVA Puccini double bill in Philadelphia
Susan Gould, 8th November
Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts presents a wonderful Puccini double bill of Suor Angelica and Le villi.
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A totally groovy Così fan tutte from the AVA in Philadelphia
Gale Martin, 13th November
What is it about Mozart’s Così fan tutte that inspires the zaniest interpretations? While the music is lovely, replete with all those lush trios, quartets, and quintets that operagoers live for, the storyline is silly if not downright insipid.
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Big, beautiful voices power AVA's Ballo
Gale Martin, 8th May
“For some operas,” famed conductor Carlo Maria Giulini once said, “you can accept a voice of not absolute beauty – if it is well used and he is an artist and interpreter, it will work. But for Verdi you need all this plus the essential sound.
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Don Quichotte victorious at Philadelphia Academy
Gale Martin, 2nd March
As the legend goes, a noble cavalier loses his battle with giant windmills. But the Academy of Vocal Arts wins big with their latest production, Jules Massenet’s melodic Don Quichotte.
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More reviews...
Read reviews of
AVA Opera OrchestraAcademy of Vocal ArtsAubry Ballarò-HagadornBrent Michael SmithChristofer MacatsorisDavid GatelyEmily MargevichKara MulderLe nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)Pascale SpinneyPeter HarrisonTimothy MurrayVal StarrWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Susan Gould
Susan Gould
Philadelphia native Susan Gould has been writing professionally about classical music since her Barnard College years in New York. She has written for both American and European publications, primarily during fifteen years in Europe, and has done liner notes for recordings and program notes for opera companies and orchestras. Among those she has interviewed have been Sills, Tebaldi, Popp and Fleming; Bumbry, Ludwig, Fassbaender, and von Stade; del Monaco, Kraus and Pavarotti; Prey, Morris and Ramey; Muti, Abbado, Giulini, Sawallisch, and Eschenbach. Fluent in Italian, German and French, she has coached both student and professional singers in foreign-language diction since 1980.