THE HANGOVER REPORT – Martin Creed’s WORDS & MUSIC performance celebrates human limitations

To accompany his current large-scale exhibition at the increasingly essential Park Avenue Armory, British artist Marin Creed (who won the Turner Prize in 2001) and his band are appearing in … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Washington National Opera’s sensational RING CYCLE is an instant classic

This past weekend, Washington National Opera wrapped up the third and final cycle of its superlative production of Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. Francesca Zambello’s landmark staging at … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nina Stemme stuns as ELEKTRA in Patrice Chéreau’s insightful new production at the Met

My self-curated season at the Metropolitan Opera was recently brought to a smashing close by the late, great Patrice Chéreau’s deeply insightful new production of Elektra, Richard Strauss’s seething and … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MasterVoices’ DIDO & AENEAS, starring Kelli O’Hara and Vicki Clark, is mesmerizing

Last night, I attended an inspired gala performance of Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas at New York City Center, courtesy of Ted Sperling’s MasterVoices series. This brief run reunites, yet … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – James Levine leads an ideal account of Mozart’s DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL

John Dexter’s utterly charming 1979 production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail returned last night to the Metropolitan Opera featuring some sublime work from Maestro James Levine and the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Messieurs Levine and Domingo revive the Met of old in this season’s SIMON BOCCANEGRA

This past weekend, I attended the final performance of this season’s run of Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera. In all my years of going to the opera, I had … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Back at BAM, André Campra’s rarely-performed LES FÊTES VÉNITIENNES is stunning in the hands of William Christie and Robert Carsen

Last night, I caught a rare staging of André Campra’s episodic opera-ballet Les Fêtes Vénitiennes at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The much-loved conductor William Christie and his influential early-music … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Three auteurs grab hold of New York theater and opera goers’ imaginations

Cinema has long had the concept of the auteur in its vocabulary, which is defined as “a filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – All hail the queen! Sondra Radvanovksy triumphantly completes Donizetti’s bel canto triple crown

All hail the queen! This season at the Met, towering soprano Sondra Radvanovsky has accomplished a rare and truly impressive hat trick – she’s played the three queens in Donizetti’s … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s handsome new production of Puccini’s MANON LESCAUT lacks urgency

I recently had the opportunity to catch the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Puccini’s early hit Manon Lescaut. The new staging, although handsomely directed by Sir Richard Eyre (responsible in … Continue Reading →