The Metropolitan Opera’s record of performing pre-Mozart operas is pretty slight and is likely to remain so until it finds an appropriate smaller venue. Even so, the lack of an ideal venue is not an excuse for ignoring this segment of the … » Read

Desire , a one-hour chamber opera by Hannah Lash, had its premiere last week at Columbia University’s Miller Theater, which, under the supportive leadership of Melissa Smey, produces short, spare, experimental, often weird pieces like this … » Read

LONDON—Cards on the table, there were appreciative guffaws from some in the Covent Garden audience at the opening night (October 14) of this new staging of Don Pasquale . I’m baffled as to why. Damiano Michieletto’s ageist … » Read

With the exception of the New York Phil, which plays up the road, Carnegie Hall is the place to catch the “Big Five” when they are in town. Last week it was the Cleveland Orchestra opening Carnegie’s new season , and October 15 … » Read

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s cruise through its centennial year suddenly hit some rough road as summer turned to fall. Simon Woods, the Phil’s CEO for only 20 months, abruptly departed Sep. 16 for reasons, … » Read

LOS ANGELES – While Broadway musicals are not altogether unfamiliar territory for Los Angeles Opera—one of its earliest productions was Oklahoma!— neither are they regularly seen in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. But when you … » Read

CHICAGO—There’s something surprisingly luxurious about seeing Verdi’s Luisa Miller live. For one thing, it’s rarely performed. Lyric Opera of Chicago, which unveiled a splendidly sung production Saturday night at the Lyric … » Read

LONDON—The French have a word for it: loufoque . It means zany, bizarre, bewildering…in fact all things preposterous. In opera, there is nothing more “loufoque” than Offenbach’s satirical operetta Orphée aux … » Read

Jörg Widmann is no stranger to the U.S. Music by the Munich-born composer (and Juilliard trained clarinetist) has proved popular over here with works popping up on the programs of most major orchestras. This summer he was resident at the … » Read

With its 99 choristers, 75 supernumeraries and enough bling to sink the Titanic, Franco Zeffirelli’s ultra-lavish production of Turandot is rightly considered a trinket in the Metropolitan Opera’s treasure chest, having held its place … » Read