THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nina Stemme and Lise Davidsen overwhelm in the Met’s searing revival of Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA

Last night, I was back at the Metropolitan Opera to catch the revival of Patrice Chéreau’s 2016 staging of Richard Strauss’s Elektra (the production was previously seen in 2013 at … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heather Christian’s bizarre, profound, and altogether singular ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS asks big questions from a cosmic perspective

Last night, Heather Christian’s Oratorio for Living Things opened Off-Broadway at the Greenwich House Theater. The immersive production, which comes courtesy of the folks at Ars Nova, was one of … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Exploring our humanity through speculative science: Michel van den Aa’s UPLOAD & Sam Chanse’s WHAT YOU ARE NOW

We live in rapidly changing times in which technological and scientific advances are threatening to outpace our ability to fully assess how they fundamentally alter the human experience. Recently, I … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Classical music roundup: Gustavo Dudamel connects to SCHUMANN with the NY Philharmonic & Handel’s RODELINDA returns to the Met

This past week, I paid a visit to the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, who gave a pair of satisfying – if not necessarily transcendent – performances. As … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Huang Ruo’s BOOK OF MOUNTAIN & SEAS quietly mesmerizes, thanks largely to master puppeteer Basil Twist’s distilled artistry

This past week, composer and librettist Huang Ruo’s new opera Book of Mountains & Seas played to pack houses at St. Ann’s Warehouse (the production played its final performance yesterday). … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Memorable nights at the opera: A dark, prescient new DON CARLOS and a succinct but moving CONCERT FOR UKRAINE

Since returning to in-person performances this March (after a monthlong hiatus in February), the Metropolitan Opera’s programming has been on point. In addition to a heavenly revival of Richard Strauss’s … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MasterVoices hits the bullseye with its joyful, starry concert rendition of Sondheim and Laurents’s ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

Last Thursday, MasterVoices hits the bullseye with its one-night-only concert rendition of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’s 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall (the venue’s iconic Stern Auditorium … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Recent transcendent classical music performances: Lise Davidsen ravishes in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS and Yannick Nézet-Séguin completes his BEETHOVEN CYCLE

Over the last few weeks, I found myself in awe of the power of live classical music. In particular, I found two transcendent performances to be ones for the ages. … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Composer Ricky Ian Gordon impressively debuts a pair of new operas in quick succession: INTIMATE APPAREL & THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS

In recent weeks, composer Ricky Ian Gordon pulled off quite the hat trick by impressively debuting two new operas (with different librettists and creative teams) in quick succession. Here are … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Maestro Nézet-Séguin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in a rich, thoughtfully curated program, featuring two female composers of color

Last night, conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin returned to the podium in New York to lead his mighty Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. After an unusually hectic few months following the post-pandemic … Continue Reading →