Category Archives: Musical America

By accident or by design, two of Los Angeles’ major musical organizations have taken on Benjamin Britten simultaneously this month. If you were at the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County – the mouthful of a new name for … Continue reading →

Los Angeles, September 11. To the small but ardent hordes of compleat Wagnerites hereabouts, denied sustenance over the years – a mere two productions in 14 seasons –  by the Los Angeles Opera’s favoring glances toward other repertories, this past … Continue reading →

Any opera company worth its music stands, or so you’d think, would honor  “Aida” as a the crown jewel in its repertory; no other opera, after all, so fully epitomizes everything embraced under the term “operatic.” Still, it has taken … Continue reading →

Along about nine o’clock on Tuesday night, a slender young soprano with the tongue-twisting name of Isabel Bayrakdarian – Lebanese-born, now Canadian — came onto the stage at UCLA’s Royce Hall, wrapped her honey-textured voice around the equally tongue-twisting divisions … Continue reading →

There are two ways of regarding the Hollywood Bowl, that vast unroofed monument to the senses that looms large above the unreality of its hometown and beguiles visitors over a 14-week stretch each summer – and which finally got down … Continue reading →

In the fertile soil of Oregon, the natives obsessively proclaim, everything grows better than anywhere else: tomatoes, strawberries, tall corn and music. Nothing better confirms the thesis than the Oregon Bach Festival, whose 31st season concludes this weekend [July 9] … Continue reading →

With the announcement of Kent Nagano’s appointment as principal conductor, the Los Angeles Opera’s new leadership took a major step toward rounding out its team. The announcement was made Thursday (June 8) by incoming artistic director Plácido Domingo; Nagano joins … Continue reading →

(Premiere: Houston Grand Opera, Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center, April 14, 2000. Future performances: April 16 (m), 19, 22, 25,28, 30 (m), May 6.) Life goes on, and so does Carlisle Floyd. “Cold Sassy Tree,” which brought a clearly  delighted … Continue reading →

Times were, when a serious opera was considered properly staged when the time-and-place coincided with the libretto’s stipulation, and the words and music coincided with the composer’s final view of the work. Consider, now, these three productions by the Los … Continue reading →

Every operatic soprano makes her own kind of peace with the music of Verdi. Far rarer and more precious, however, is the singer with the innate, essential Verdi in her voice: the throb, the marvelous iridescence as the simplest, purest … Continue reading →