Threepenny Opera suffers under the weight of its own ambitions

By Kurt Gottschalk, 09 November 2020

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“the orchestra was on point and the settings were stylish”

Reviewed at HERE (formerly HERE Arts Center), New York City on 5 November 2020

Weill, The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) (English translation: Marc Blitzstein)

City Lyric Opera

Whitney George, Conductor

Justin Austin, Macheath

Sara LeMesh, Lucy

Sara LaFlamme, Polly Peachum

Shanelle Valerie Woods, Jenny

Rachelle Pike, Celia Peachum

Philip Kalmanovitch, Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum

Michael Parham, Tiger Brown

The Curiosity Cabinet

Jetske Mijnssen's Boccanegra a coup for DNO season finale

Eleanor Knight, 4th June

Everything about this production is fresh and wonderful.

*****

Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere

Nick Boston, 4th June

John Tavener's “mystical pantomime” proves a disappointment, despite strong performances from singers and orchestra in David Pountney's production.

***11

Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante wins hearts at the Opéra de Paris

David Karlin, 2nd June

Leonardo García-Alarcón's exhumation of Bembo's work proves a winner, in a hyper-quirky staging by Netia Jones with Julie Fuchs as the pick of the fine singers.

****1

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Bang! Mozart’s volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

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Kurt Gottschalk

Kurt Gottschalk is a journalist and author based in New York City. His writings on contemporary and classical music, jazz and improvisation have been published in outlets throughout Europe and America and he has two volumes of short fiction to his name. He produced and hosted the Miniature Minotaurs radio programme on WFMU and currently hosts Afternoon New Music on WKCR.

City Lyric's Threepenny Opera suffers under the weight of its own ambitions