THE HANGOVER REPORT – Joyce DiDonato leads a sparkling account of Massenet’s CENDRILLON at the Metropolitan Opera

Last night at the Metropolitan Opera, I caught American mezzo-soprano star Joyce DiDonato take on the title role in Cendrillon, Jules Massenet’s operatic version of the popular Cinderella fairytale. Quite surprisingly, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Anna Netrebko debuts a smoldering TOSCA at the Met

Last night, I caught the second cast of Sir David McVicar’s traditional new staging of Puccini’s Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera. I had thought the opening cast – which featured … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – ROCKTOPIA is a rock-meets-classical music collision that counts on your endorphins being released

Last night at the appropriately blandly-named Broadway Theatre, I caught Rocktopia, a tourist-friendly concert that mashes up rock with classical music. Although the production is advertised as an opportunity to hear the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR & IL PIGMALIONE/PIGMALION: The Met and City Opera synergistically counterpoint each other

I had questioned the resuscitation of New York City Opera when they announced that a traditional production of Puccini’s war horse Tosca would be the vehicle for their return. However, since then, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s delightful new production of COSÌ FAN TUTTE almost unlocks Mozart’s problematic opera

Like Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte is a fiendishly opera difficult to get right. That’s because, on paper, its depiction of women is terribly dated, even mean-spirited. In the opera, two … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Kelly’s TIME NO LINE weaves together a living memoir, creating art in the process

Last night, I caught one of the final performances of veteran performance artist John Kelly’s theatrical memoir Time No Line at, fittingly, La Mama’s Ellen Stewart Theatre. Sufficiently doing justice to his long, storied … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met revives its raw production of Richard Strauss’s ELEKTRA, ecstatically led by Christine Goerke and Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Tonight, I revisited the Metropolitan Opera’s raw production of Richard Strauss’s still-shocking, laser-focused one-act operatic adaptation of the Greek tragedy Elektra. Even if the staging from the late, great Patrice Chéreau this time around … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Stellar vocals save the Met’s clunky production of Rossini’s rarely-performed SEMIRAMIDE

I recently had a chance to catch the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Rossini’s Semiramide. The bel canto opera, one of Rossini’s final operas and one that’s rarely in the repertoire these … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the Met remains as striking as ever

There are a handful of productions at the Met that never fail to leave a deep impression on me, regardless of the quality of the cast. One of those is … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – It was worth the wait: The New Group’s sensational chamber-sized JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA (finally) opens in New York

The New Group’s sensational chamber-sized version of Jerry Springer: The Opera (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) marks the anticipated New York premiere of Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s musical-cum-opera adaptation of the notorious talk show of the same … Continue Reading →