With the production’s delights of flamenco dancing, passionate arias, magnificent costuming, staging, lighting, soaring melodies, and powerful drama, we ultimately gasp in awe at the power of Bizet’s Fate theme, akin to the tragedy of the last act in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with its piercing melancholy. Carmen’s impact is profound, in part due to Bizet’s launching of the verismo school, where contemporary characters live true to life.
In the Met’s Don Carlos we are in the time of the Inquisition at the peak of its ultramontane evil powers. We discover love’s immortality.
From the moment lights dimmed and the curtain raised, we saw Puccini’s vision of Madama Butterfly and entered his artistic world, thoroughly suspending our disbelief to participate in a story of sublime creative beauty, poignancy, and tragedy. Lyric soprano Eleonora Buratto’s breathtaking, sumptuous high Db filled the concert hall with rapturous, soaring grandeur.
The music of Ariadne Auf Naxos exemplified Strauss’ sumptuous instrumental colorings and is a remarkable tonal masterpiece.
In Intimate Apparel, author Lynn Nottage brings to life the struggles of African-American women who came to New York after Reconstruction.
Coloratura soprano Edita Gruverova performs the virtuoso Zerbinetta aria from Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos
This event is a gift from the legacy of renowned bass-baritone George London (1920-1985). The Competition introduces and welcomes luminaries of the operatic stage to the world. Past winners of this prestigious competition include Renée Fleming, Sondra Radvanovsky, and Dawn Upshaw. 2022c Competition winner Eric Ferring marvelously conveyed the beauty of each subtle impassioned intone of the music in the bel canto style with mastery of messe di voce, phrasing, agility, and sangfroid.