The Raven is a riveting start to the NY Phil Biennial

Gotham Chamber Opera's current double bill of Bohuslav Martinů's Alexandre bis and Comedy on the Bridge prove that an opera company doesn’t need to be the biggest in town to be the most innovative.

On Monday, Gotham Chamber Opera presented Daniel Catán’s opera La hija de Rappaccini (“Rappaccini’s Daughter”) in the Cherry Esplanade at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Describing its new production of Francesco Cavalli’s 1668 opera Eliogabalo, the Gotham Chamber Opera compares the exploits of titular depraved Roman emperor Heliogabalus to Salome. There’s an obvious mistake here: Salome is an opera; Heliogabalus was a historical figure.

The barely legal lives of women in polygamous marriages may seem like fertile ground for an opera. Dark Sisters, composed by Nico Muhly with a libretto by Stephen Karam, has many attractive moments in music and story, yet demonstrates the difficulties of drawing art from life.

The dancers of the Martha Graham Dance Company may have been doing the repertoire of Ms Graham since the company’s inception in 1926, but Wednesday night’s program – featuring the work of four other choreographers – was proof that these are remarkably versatile dancers, capable of interpreting myriad forms of modern dance assuredly.