Singingscholar

LATEST ARTICLES ( 293 )

• Der Bleiche Mann Ist Ein Vampyr! Marschner Rarity at Liederkranz

  The opening night of the Liederkranz Foundation's production of Der Vampyr was a treat for me, and the rest of the audience seemed equally enthusiastic. Read more

  Posted on 19 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Nabucco: Non Implora Che La Vita Del Suo Cor

  

  True confession: I like Nabucco. While it may not have the structural elegance and masterful pacing of later Verdi, I find its experimental exuberance very... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Dark Sisters: Blaze a Trail Beyond the Canyons

  

  Seeing Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters at Gotham Chamber Opera was an unexpected opportunity, and, as it turned out, a deeply unsettling experience. Read more

  Posted on 12 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Che Fascino! Che Accento! Adriana Lecouvreur

  

  The melodramatic plot of Adriana Lecouvreur is easily parodied, but its music is less easily dismissed. With fine and passionate singing, Francesco Cilea's... Read more

  Posted on 09 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Udite, Udite: Richard Tucker Foundation Gala

  In his opening remarks on Sunday evening, Barry Tucker thanked the loyal audiences of the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala who made the concert a tradition. Read more

  Posted on 08 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Se Vuol Ballare: Operatic Histories of the French Revolution

  Verily, Gentle Readers, opera follows me around, even into the fastnesses of the library. I have been spending the past week immersed in the historiography of... Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Ich Lausch Dem Gesang: Siegfried at the Met

  

  Despite some very fine singing, and some very fine orchestral playing, the Met's new Siegfried was less than fully satisfying. Robert Lepage promised... Read more

  Posted on 28 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Sui Maccheroni Il Cacio V'è Cascato: Barbiere Di Siviglia

  

  My theory that it's impossible to leave a good Rossini performance without a smile on your face (and at least one fragment of melody stuck in your head) stands. Read more

  Posted on 27 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Maltese Tenor: Joseph Calleja Launches Album at LPR

  

  Having eagerly awaited the U.S. release of Joseph Calleja's new CD, I ventured down on Monday to hear him perform at Le Poisson Rouge in honor of its launch.... Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Poetry in the Pity: Britten's War Requiem with the LSO

  

  I was not in the forefront of the standing ovation for Sunday's performance of the War Requiem. This was because I was shaking and my legs had gone rubbery. Read more

  Posted on 25 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Missa Solemnis: Beethoven with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO

  "Even as I apologize for my bad handwriting, I ask God to pour his blessings richly on Yr Highness' head. Your new career, which is so concerned with the... Read more

  Posted on 23 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• La Bella Scena: I Due Figaro at Amore Opera (U.S. Premiere)

  

  Amore Opera's season continues ambitiously, with the American premiere of I due Figaro, an 1826 opera by Saverio Mercadante. Following the recent rediscovery... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Folle Giornata: Le Nozze Di Figaro at Amore Opera

  

  "This is an awfully long opera," said the man seated behind me at The Marriage of Figaro on Friday, "but there isn't a bad bit in it. Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Russian Romanticism at Carnegie Hall: Gergiev and the Mariinsky Do Tchaikovsky

  

  Spring Plowing: Alexsey Venetsianov, 1820s Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, despite or because of the widespread popularity of much of his music, has often been... Read more

  Posted on 12 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Interval Adventures: Wagner with William Berger

  

  Josef Hoffmann: Das Rheingold This past week, the Beloved Flatmate and I enjoyed the rarity of a Friday night out... listening to a talk on staging the Ring! Read more

  Posted on 10 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Sunday Special: Autumn in the Air

  It's a beautiful October afternoon in NYC: days of rain have resolved themselves into crisp, windy weather, with sunshine slanting through clouds. I am,... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Lieto Evento: Anna Bolena at the Met

  

  The queen and her court: Netrebko (r) and Mumford (c) AP Photo The modern performance history of Donizetti's Anna Bolena has been defined by its divas. Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Dolci e Bei Momenti: Snapshots from the Met Gala

  

  The Metropolitan Opera season has officially begun! Let joy be unconfined! Let there be dancing in the streets, drinking in the saloons, and necking in the... Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Allons, Allons, Accourez Tous: Lully's Atys at BAM

  

  Les Arts Florissants At the conclusion of Wednesday's performance of Atys at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, I was standing in the last row, clapping and shoutin... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA

• Opera and Religion: Assorted Thoughts on Nabucco

  I apologize, Gentle Readers, if it seems less than gracious to emerge from blog silence with such a weighty topic in tow. But here I am, seething with thoughts! Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2011 CULTURE, THEATRE & OPERA