Philly’s R&J Makeover is Haute Stuff

By Gale Martin, 22 February 2011

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Reviewed at Academy of Music, Philadelphia on 20 February 2011

Gounod, Roméo et Juliette

Opera Philadelphia

Jacques Lacombe, Conductor

Manfred Schweigkofler, Director

Stephen Costello, Roméo

Ailyn Pérez, Juliette

Marian Pop, Mercutio

Elena Belfiore, Stéphano

Daniel Mobbs, Count Capulet

Opera by committee: Opera Philadelphia premieres Complications in Sue

Cameron Kelsall, 4th February

Opera Philadelphia commissions ten composers to tell the story of an ordinary woman's idiosyncratic march from cradle to tomb.

****1

A didactic Decameron: The Seasons at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 20th December

Conceived by Anthony Roth Costanzo and Sarah Ruhl, this high-handed pasticcio sets the climate crisis to a soundtrack of Vivaldi.

***11

A long, strange trip: Opera Philadelphia’s Il viaggio a Reims

Cameron Kelsall, 19th September

The intrepid company brings Damiano Michieletto’s well-traveled production of a Rossini rarity to the US for the first time.

***11

The Listeners: daring psychological thriller at Opera Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 25th September

The new opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek draws on cult mindsets and conspiracy theories but smartly avoids sensationalism.

****1

Opera Philadelphia's Unholy Wars creates a dialogue with Monteverdi

Cameron Kelsall, 23rd September

Arab-American tenor Karim Sulayman devises a thoughtful pastiche that centers the perspective omitted from Early Modern depictions of the Middle East in music.

****1

Quinn Kelsey triumphs in Opera Philadelphia's Simon Boccanegra

Cameron Kelsall, 22nd September

In his role debut as the Genoan Doge, the American baritone continues to burnish his bona fides as the premier Verdi baritone of his generation.

****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.