Opera Warhorses

One might argue that the San Francisco Opera from its founding has been a house that seems dedicated to Puccini’s works, but that happens to do a great job of other parts of the operatic repertoire, as well.  The outgoing musical director, Donald Runnicles, is associated with Wagnerian and contemporary opera, but also excelled with [...]

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The Lyric Opera of Chicago mounted a new production of Alban Berg’s “Lulu”, under the direction of Paul Curran. Last season the Scottish Director developed Lyric Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten” and has established himself as an advocate for Benjamin Britten’s operas in the United States at the Santa Fe and Central City [...]

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The middle of the 20th century was an exciting time for those curious about the Italian bel canto operatic masterpieces of Gaetano Donizetti. First Maria Callas and then Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe and Beverly Sills used their stardom to advance the cause of Donizetti’s dramatic operas. I myself saw Caballe as Elisabetta in [...]

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