Curtain Call at Manhattan School of Music's Production of Purcell's The Fairy Queen The proverbial blood, sweat, and tears that go into a theatrical production were nowhere in evidence at this romp seen and heard at Riverside Theater. The results were the evidence! It was difficult to tell who was having more fun last night, the audience or the student performers from Manhattan School of Music. Spirits were high and laughter was abundant. Henry Purcell wrote some mighty gorgeous music for this "masque" which  was first presented in 1692. Although our knowledge of British hi ..read more

 Myra Huang and Fleur Barron Our happiest moments come from witnessing the growth of young artists that we admired as students. Often their career development takes them far from New York City and there is a considerable interlude during which we lose track of them. Such was the case with the truly gifted mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron. It has been at least ten years since we heard her sing in a master class at Manhattan School of Music, led by Martina Arroyo and Maestro Jorge Parodi. Ms. Barron sang a duet from one of our favorite zarzuelas --Luisa Fernanda, and Mo. Parodi gave her a few ..read more

"House of Mad'moiselle" performed by Ballet Hispanico (photo by Benjamin Rivera) We are a Swan Lake/Giselle kind of balletomane; but we like to explore art forms that are new to us. Our attempts to broaden our horizons in the opera world have been disappointing, as have our attempts to appreciate modern ballet--until last night, when we attended a fine program by Ballet Hispanico at the New York City Center. Instead of the boring herky-jerky movements reminiscent of a health club exercise class which we deplored at our last excursion into the world of dance, we enjoyed a stimula ..read more

 Curtain Call for La Rondine at Manhattan School of Music Puccini's 1917 opera La Rondine is about falling in love in a moment; we fell in love with the work a couple minutes after Maestro Marcello Cormio raised his baton. There is no doubt that Mo. Cormio was completely in touch with Puccini's lavish melodies as well as the master's use of dance rhythms. As a matter of fact he appeared to be dancing on the podium and his obvious enthusiasm for the work was communicated to the student orchestra which responded in a manner that a professional orchestra might envy. Puccin ..read more

 Curtain call at Juilliard for Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito What sort of work might please a newly crowned Emperor in the late 18th c.? How about a tale of a beloved magnanimous Emperor from Ancient Rome named Titus? An old libretto by Metastasio was tailored to meet the demands of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by one Caterino Mazzolà, after Antonio Salieri repeatedly declined the commission for a work to celebrate the coronation of   Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, as King of Bohemia. It is believed that Mozart rose to the occasion and composed the opera in 18 days, possibly ..read more

  Jorell Williams, Melissa Harvey, Maestro Neal Goren, Laurie Rubin, and Joshua Dennis In the first scene of Nadia Boulanger's only opera La Ville Morte, one of the characters saw something he couldn't describe. That is exactly how we feel about the performance of said opera last night at The NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. As regular readers already know, we approach every opera  without reading advance materials. We have our very own criterion; let the work speak for itself. We would be surprised to find anyone in the decent sized audience who could have understood w ..read more

 Master of Ceremonies Kim David Smith with cast of Tiergarten (photo by Kevin Condon) Death of Classical never ceases to amaze us. It might be the intimate candle-lit concerts at The Crypt or the intimate concerts in a mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery. Last night's extravaganza was anything but intimate. It seems as if all of New York (or at least all of arts-loving New York) had packed into the grand hall of St. Mary's on the Lower East Side for an extravaganza created, written, and directed by the multipotentialite Andrew Ousley, a virtual fountain of original ide ..read more

  The cast of Viktor Ullman's Der Kaiser Von Atlantis Citizens of the United States are prone to taking much for granted. Among the many rights and privileges we possess, one of the most important is that of freedom of artistic expression. With a few exceptions, like desecrating the flag or saying scurrilous things about minorities, artists are free to hold a mirror up to society and to show us what we tend to avoid or deny. Fascist dictators (is that redundant?) exert total control over music, art, and theater to present an idealized and dishonest view of society. Thos ..read more

Philip Stoddard and Katherine Henley (photo by Russ Rowland)                                                                                                                     Katherine Henley and Claire Leyden                  (photo by Russ Rowl ..read more

  Sara Zerilli, Charlotte Jakobs, Chun-Wei Kang, Ariana Troxell-Layton, Jennifer Robinson, A. Scott Parry, Vincenzo Fiorito, Brandon Pencheff-Martin, and Jacob Soulliere We have long thought that the best opera composers would be former-singers. With their knowledge of the voice and how it is best utilized, they would know how to highlight the singers' gifts and how not to write music that is awkward and difficult to sing. Proof of the proverbial pudding could be found at last night's production by Manhattan School of Music Undergraduate Opera Theatre, a performance of Pauline ..read more