2017 Year in Review – Opera

2017 was another interesting year in opera in New York. Even with the mediocrity on the boards of the Met and the unevenness coming from New York City Opera these days, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The immersive COUNTING SHEEP thrusts its audiences deep into revolution

I recently had a chance to catch Counting Sheep, aptly subtitled “an immersive guerilla folk opera” at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in downtown Manhattan. The piece, created by … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Maestro Levine leads Verdi’s mighty REQUIEM, the Met’s moving (if coincidental) memorial to the great Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Last night, I attended a concert rendition of Verdi’s great Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera. The piece, Verdi’s attempt at a Catholic Mass for the Dead, is dramatic and harrowing. It often … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Massenet’s THAÏS sounds utterly lovely at the Met, in a hackneyed production

Last night, I caught a performance of the the Metropolitan Opera’s rare revival of of Jules Massenet’s Thaïs. The opera, about an Alexandrian courtesan’s flight from her “life of sin” to the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Thomas Adès’s sensational THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL takes risks, and is breathtaking (and all the more unsettling) because of them

Tonight, I caught the closing performance of Thomas Adès’s breathtaking The Exterminating Angel at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera, based on the Sartre-esque Luis Buñuel film of the same name, premiered at the Salzburg … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Mark Morris’s choreographic interpretation of LAYLA AND MAJNUN captivates in Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival

I recently caught the closing performance of Mark Morris’s utterly captivating Layla and Majnun, which had its New York premiere this past week under the auspices of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – NYCO’s intimate operatic adaptation of DOLORES CLAIBORNE by Tobias Picker fails to ignite

The discerning New York theatergoer can easily get into the Halloween spirit by attending any number of carefully curated productions. Thomas Ostermeier’s devilish mounting of Richard III at BAM, Dave Malloy’s pungent song … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – David McVicar’s new production of NORMA for the Met is grounded and theatrically satisfying

Last night, I finally caught up with Sir David McVicar’s new production of Bellini’s Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, replacing John Copley’s dismal 2001 staging. Happily, the new production by Mr. … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Matthew Aucoin’s CROSSING is that rare new opera of the first order

This past weekend, I attended the closing performance of Matthew Aucoin’s tremendous new opera Crossing, one of headliners of this fall’s ongoing Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Maestro Levine leads a noble account of DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE at the Met

Tonight, I caught the opening night performance of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte led by the Metropolitan Opera’s esteemed longtime maestro, James Levine. In recent years, Mr. Levine has suffered a series of health … Continue Reading →