The existence of slavery in the U.S. for almost 250 years remains a fraught presence in our national psyche, so the October 2019 news that the 2020 Spoleto Festival USA would present Omar , a new opera based on the autobiography of Omar Ibn Said … » Read

Stephen Sondheim developed a healthy attitude toward failure near the end of his life: “In ten years they’ll revive it in London and it will be hailed as a masterpiece.” So he told Nathan Lane when their rewrite of The Frogs was … » Read

LONDON--This “opera project” by Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic has crisscrossed Europe since its first appearance in Munich three years ago. The incarnation that reached London on November 3, courtesy of English National … » Read

“As a musician, you know, you’d like to find the kind of music that is so powerful it can stop a bomb from falling, or stop bullets from killing people,” a youthful David Harrington says in an old TV interview excerpted by … » Read

NAPLES, Italy—Rossini’s tragic opera Maometto Secondo was largely forgotten following its Neapolitan premiere in 1820, although other European cities took it up and, as revised and renamed Le Siège de Corinthe , it became … » Read

Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X seems to grow increasingly relevant with age. And while there’s no question that this is the right time for it, the Metropolitan Opera is arguably the wrong place. Oft-revised from … » Read

LONDON—You must admit, Ian Page and The Mozartists have grand plans. Not only do they intend to record all of Mozart’s operas, but they have a complementary project investigating the 18th-century Sturm und Drang movement (an excellent … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Dressed in sober street clothes—dark suits, sweaters, long dresses—the “guests” filtered onstage, exchanged hugs, and empathic looks and took their seats. The house lights were still up at … » Read

New York City Handel fans likely celebrated when they learned Israel in Egypt and L’Allegro, Il Penersoso ed il Moderato would be performed on consecutive October evenings. Beyond Messiah, local audiences don’t often get to hear the … » Read

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Jeanine Tesori is no stranger to the Washington National Opera (WNO), having brought two earlier operas— Blue and The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me— here in just the last 12 months. Her new opera Grounded , in … » Read