opera

When is too much too much? Met tests the limits with “Tristan und Isolde”

By Michael Roddy It was the opera coup of the year, perhaps the decade. The Metropolitan Opera, which is flailing under a mountain of debt and even looking to the Saudis for a bailout, enlisted Norwegian superstar soprano Lise Davidsen and American “baritenor” Michael Spyres for the title roles in Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”…Read more When is too much too much? Met tests the limits with “Tristan und Isolde”

Classical music in the spotlight at Berlinale

The orphanage orchestra that plays a pop tune for the Pope in "Gloria" Classical music is often thought to have little place in today's arts and culture scene, but filmmakers at the Berlinale can't seem to get enough of it. Three films at this year's festival have classical music as central plot elements, and two…Read more Classical music in the spotlight at Berlinale

Saariaho’s “Innocence” is the terrifying opera America needs to see

It may sound improbable that a 70-year-old Finnish composer has written an opera that strikes straight to the heart of America's gun-violence epidemic, but that's exactly what Kaija Saariaho has done with her latest opera, “Innocence”. Be forewarned about that title. In this opera, almost no one is innocent. The people who die in the…Read more Saariaho’s “Innocence” is the terrifying opera America needs to see

Ades’s searing “Exterminating Angel”, based on film, is opera as cinema

SALZBURG, Austria - British composer Thomas Ades blurs the lines between cinema and opera in his edgy new work "The Exterminating Angel" based on director Luis Bunuel's film of the same name about guests trapped by an invisible force at an upper-crust dinner party. The opera, which had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival on…Read more Ades’s searing “Exterminating Angel”, based on film, is opera as cinema