We are three years from the worldwide bicentennial celebration of the birth of the great Italian opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi. In the countdown to the bicentennial, San Diego Opera’s 2010 Season presented two of Verdi’s great successes - an utterly smashing production of the 29 year old Verdi’s first big hit, “Nabucco” (championed and conducted [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Tom’s Reviews'
Mega-opulent “Traviata” a Spectacular Finish to San Diego Opera’s Season – April 23, 2010
April 24th, 2010
Tags: Tom's Reviews
Richard M. Nixon and Mao Zedong Dance at Smashing Long Beach Opera “Nixon in China” – March 20, 2010
March 21st, 2010
How can any of us Fifty-Something Plus Types ever forget that incredible, epochal meeting in February 1972 when Nixon met Chairman Mao Zedong (modern [pinyin] Chinese for the formerly spelled Mao Tse Tung) in Beijing (used to be Peking), literally changing history from that episode foreward? Prolific American composer, Pulitzer-Prize winning John Adams (born 1947, California-based) [...]
Tags: Tom's Reviews
Piotr Beczala, Ellie Dehn, Priti Gandhi Stunning in San Diego “La Boheme” – February 5, 2010
February 6th, 2010
Is there anyone out there in the world of opera who doesn’t adore Puccini’s super-popular “La Boheme”? Who doesn’t dab at tears at the end when Mimi dies in Rodolfo’s arms? This is opera verisma (opera in the Real World) at its absolute best! And how do you top Act II’s rollicking Cafe’ Momus Christmas Eve scene for sheer delight. [Below: A Paris [...]
Tags: Tom's Reviews