THE HANGOVER REPORT – Soprano Lise Davidsen and conductor Susanna Mälkki gorgeously lead Bethoven’s FIDELIO

Certainly one of the highlights of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024/2025 season thus far is the current revival of Beethoven’s Fidelio (for the record, my other highlights of the Met season … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jake Heggie‘s distilled operatic adaptation of MOBY-DICK powerfully launches the Met’s spring season

Last night marked the opening of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Moby-Dick — Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s powerful adaptation of Herman Melville’s iconic literary work — launching the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Opera as downtown theater: Heartbeat Opera’s intimately scaled SALOME is an in-your-face thriller

This past holiday weekend, I also had the opportunity to catch the final performance of Heartbeat Opera’s compact version of Salome. Based on Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play of the same … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MasterVoices’ well-judged presentation of BLIND INJUSTICE powerfully makes its point

Earlier this week at the Rose Theater at Jazz Lincoln Center, I attended the first of only two performances of composer Scott Davenport Richards and librettist David Cote’s opera Blind … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera’s immersive processional opera PRIMERO SUEÑO is a transfixing marriage of music and setting

On Sunday night, I attended the final performance of Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera’s new opera Primero Sueño at The Met Cloisters. Essentially, the opera is presented as a fever … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A smoldering cast led by Sondra Radvanovsky and Bryn Terfel elevate the Met’s production of TOSCA

Last night at the Metropolitan Opera, I attended the company’s final performance of the season of Puccini’s Tosca. To say it was one of the most smoldering and exciting evenings … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – PROTOTYPE 2025 Roundup: Continuing to push form and content in opera and music theater in exciting and unexpected ways

Over the years, Prototype has become an integral platform for presenting new opera and music theater, often time pushing the envelope in terms of form and content in exciting and … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Met’s new AIDA aims to appease both traditionalists and woke audiences, to mixed results

This past weekend, I made a trip to the Metropolitan Opera to take in the company’s new production of Aida. Having glamorously premiered on New Year’s Eve, Michael Mayer’s anticipated … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – THE BEST OF 2024: Theater, Music, and Dance

With 2024 recently behind us, what better time to take stock of the year that’s just transpired to highlight the performances that have particularly distinguished themselves from the pack. Read … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ravishing music-making permeates the Met’s triumphant revival of DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN

Any chance to catch the rarely-performed opera Die Frau ohne Schatten is an opportunity well worth taking. The fourth of the stories collaborations between composer Richard Strauss and poet/librettist Hugo … Continue Reading →