An American version of The Magic Flute
Imagine Mozart and his librettist Schikaneder enlisting the help of a contemporary dramaturg to pitch their singspiel The Magic Flute to the American public. This unlikely premise was exactly what Boston Lyric Opera was going for with their world premiere of a new English adaptation of Mozart’s famous opera. Bolder than most, the new production featured a more comprehensive backstory, altered geographic setting, clearer symbolism, and delightful English lyrics. The stage décor was enchanting, the costumes eye-catching, and the singing breathtaking. 222 years after its premiere, Mozart’s opera sounds incredibly fresh in this ingenious reimagining, delivering its potent mix of jovial humor and nuggets of wisdom with a renewed vitality, and a surprising up-to-date relevance. Attending the BLO’s production of The Magic Flute made for a spectacular night at the opera, at once entertaining and inspiring.
A rare gem: Dvořák’s only grand opera Dimitrij performed in concert
Telling a sweeping tale of the struggle for the throne in tsarist Russia, Dimitrij clocks in at nearly four hours across four acts. This rare opera, chosen and conducted by artistic director Gil Rose of Odyssey Opera, is epic, luscious, and riveting to the last note. It truly lives up to its genre.
Carmen sets out to shock: opera for millennials
“Love” and “death” sound remarkably similar in French: l’amour and la mort. This near-homonymity is the thematic core of the opera Carmen. The titular main character is inexorably drawn to the two.
A painting sets into motion a disturbing tale of eternal youth
Quite a bit of thought was put into the libretto and the performance itself — for such a philosophical novel, this adaptation is palatable for audience members who have not read the source material. In the lecture prior to the performance, Liebermann commented that he was particularly cautious while writing because he wanted the opera to be self-sufficient, not even requiring the program notes to understand the story.
I volunteer as tribute!
There was quite a bit of excitement when L’assedio di Calais, which hadn’t been performed since 1840, was revived in 1990 in Europe at the Bergamo Festival and just last year in the United States at the Glimmerglass Festival.
The greedy, horrific, but fairly moving tale of Mr. Burke and Mr. Hare’s victims
“The people of Edinburgh aren’t… dying… QUICKLY ENOUGH!!!” Here cry the despairing voices of the schools of anatomy. The cadavers are running low, so study is restricted. Gravedigging is illegal, and only those who die as criminals or as otherwise properly indicated by the state are allowed to be sold for science, so supply is limited.
‘Oh the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear’
Think of a modern, raunchy rom-com, or every time a novel was censored for mature content, or go to the past and think of Voltaire’s Candide. And now think about opera, the soprano’s voice echoing through the hall, the audience’s impeccable suits and dresses, and the richness of the orchestral music. Put the two together, plus an overt confrontation against capitalism, and we have 'The Threepenny Opera.'
When a lumberjack turns into a doctor in rural France...
As a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Gounod’s birth, the Odyssey Opera presents this opéra-comique while also preserving original text from Molière’s play. Sung in French paired with English subtitles, the opera features never-before heard recitatives by Erik Satie.
Arnold Schoenberg brings his music to Hollywood
This opera’s Schoenberg is a creative player, but also a fighter; he cycles around and around before accepting Judaism, he hurtles forward into the future with his musical sensibilities, he falls in love and loses people and runs, but he eventually finds a home in himself.
Lustful princes, or the proximate cause of the rise of the Republic
There is much that entrances the viewer in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of 'The Rape of Lucretia,' despite its heavy thematic content. The BLO presents high-caliber singing, aesthetic costume design, and an orchestra that breathes life into Britten’s score, all at unprecedentedly close quarters.
Boston Lyric Opera tries its hand at ‘bread and circuses’
The Boston Lyric Opera opens the season with its take on an “immersive” ‘Pagliacci’, a play-within-a-play centered on a love triangle between members of a commedia dell’arte troupe. The result: a bite-size opera with a festive preamble that makes up in spirit what it lacks in substance.
How to dupe a queen
A queen finds herself powerless, an orphan finds herself a duchess, and someone finds themselves without a head. Odyssey Opera’s revival of Pacini’s Tudor drama is an unexpected musical delight further enhanced by tasteful staging.
Rosner’s reactionary recitativo resuscitated
A “fusion of seemingly incongruous elements” is an apt description of Arnold Rosner’s style. Add to that his eschewing of Mozart as laughably overrated and his strong iconoclastic tendencies, and you make a classical music lover want to approach the man’s work with a nine-foot poker.
A royal family drama full of coloratura
This opera seria is one of Mozart’s lesser-performed works, and it is clear that BLO’s staging directions want to push the boundaries of a traditional “serious” art form into something more accessible to Boston audiences.