Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, currently at the Academy of Vocal Arts and locally toured is brought to its full Verdian power under the direction of Tito Capobianco and AVA conductor Christofer Macatsoris.
The program designed by Ms. Azrieli is united by a Jewish theme. It includes works by Jewish composers, operatic arias that evoke Jewish subjects, as well as Jewish folksong arrangements.
NEW YORK — Music lovers who have seen "The Audition," the documentary about a vocal competition at the Metropolitan Opera, may remember tenor Mi...
Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" -- "the fallen woman" in Italian -- tells the tale of Violetta, a tragic heroine who is desperate to remain free and lo...
NEW YORK -- Near the end of Shakespeare's "Othello," the hero speaks of the "unlucky deeds" that have brought about his downfall. The same phrase migh...
NEW YORK -- Two spontaneous eruptions from the audience just about said it all as the Metropolitan Opera revived Willy Decker's brilliantly stripped-d...
Verdi: The Complete Works (75-CD boxed set) Decca. From the ever-popular "Aida" to the obscure "Alzira," all 28 of Giuseppe Verdi's operas have been ...
NEW YORK — Part film noir, part surrealistic nightmare, David Alden's new production of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" is dominated by a single ...
It was as if a common spirit held everyone in thrall, and it was perfectly natural and fitting to breathe an interior, silent, communal "Amen," before erupting into the tumultuous, appreciative applause that such a magnificent and memorable performance deserved.
Still in his thirties, a lion-hearted Leo, Vratogna is that rare breed of natural dramatic baritone who owns the vocal prowess and seductive appeal of the alpha male so predominant in the Verdi repertoire.
A little girl standing next to me at a recent opera rehearsal turned to me and said with tears in her eyes, "I didn't know that opera could be such fun!" Friends, it sure is, and we must do everything we can to support it!
The role of "Leone" in Verdi's Attila requires an artist of the larger-than-life variety. For the 2012 summer season at San Francisco Opera, that can be carried off by no one else but Samuel Ramey.
VATICAN CITY — Riccardo Muti will be conducting a concert in the Vatican in honor of Pope Benedict XVI. He's the second big-name maestro to be ...
This was the Carnegie Hall debut for soprano Jennifer Rowley and tenor Noah Baetge, likely for mezzo Leann Sandel-Pantaleo and bass Harold Wilson as well. The fact that all four had issues in keeping with the conductor would seem to indict the conductor rather than any of them.
HOUSTON -- One of the grandest of grand operas, Verdi's "Don Carlos" is rarely performed with every note of music the composer wrote for its 1867 prem...
NEW YORK — The story of soprano Angela Meade's "overnight success" at the Metropolitan Opera is well known: She wins the National Council Auditi...
NEW YORK — In 1872, a dissatisfied opera-goer who had attended a performance of Verdi's "Aida" in Parma, Italy, wrote to the composer asking for...
WILMINGTON, Del. — The year was 1839, and a young, unknown Italian composer was having his first opera produced at La Scala. Though only a mode...
Why is arts criticism important? In a perfect situation, criticism would serve at least three-fold. Worthy artists would receive recognition, audience...
Remember in "Pretty Woman" when Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to the opera for the first time and he says that people either love it or hate it? We...
Whether deploying a chorus line of Ku Klux Klansmen, mocking every symbol of Christianity, or filling the theatre with nonstop profanity, Jerry Springer:The Opera has something to offend everyone.
The architectural team that prides itself on creating unexpected public spaces attractive to all layers of society turns to Verdi.
Opera's leading director is frequently described as a genius, but rarely escapes the label of "enfant terrible" and "angry young man."
The production contained some pre-requisites for the medium -- a tragic storyline that centered around love, sex and three principles, making it a theoretical candidate for an operatic treatment.
