Opera Warhorses

Although the three major opera companies in California – San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera and San Diego Opera – frequently present works of the great Italian opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, one can expect special attention to his compositions as we approach the 150th anniversary of Puccini’s birth on December 22, 1858. In fact, between the productions [...]

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Last October, I was impressed by the insightful conducting of Pittsburgh Opera’s musical director, Antony Walker, whose work complemented the extraordinary Moffatt Oxenbould production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” from Opera Australia. Having returned to the Pittsburgh to review its mounting of Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”, also to be conducted by Walker, I had [...]

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Note: This is the third and final part of a review of the 2007-08 Midwinter Opera Scene in Southern California.  Previous reviews of operas performed by the Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera and Opera Pacific (Orange County) may be found in Tom’s Winter of Content: Midwinter Opera in Sunny Southern California 2007-08 (March 2008 Archives) and Winter [...]

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