Nick

CONCERT" REVIEW- New England Conservatory's 22nd Annual Gospel Jubilee

If you missed last night's "Gospel Jubilee," you missed one of the rarest, most unusual, and exciting nights, in any concert hall, anytime...anywhere! Part '60s "love-in," part cathartic religious experience, part rockin' rock concert, part fantastic musical show, what happened in that theater last night was less a performance than it was an experience. Brilliant instrumentalists, preachers who said, meant and spoke directly to you, and that incredible 200-voice New England Conservatory Millennium Choir, tore the roof off of prestigious Jordan Hall. It was only minutes into the concert, when the performers got the audience to its feet (and kept it there for three hours,) shouting, singing, "praising the Lord," and just having a great time making "a joyful noise." It didn't matter whether you were a Baptist, an agnostic, a Catholic, a Jew, a Buddhist, or a Golden Retriever, you were on your feet because the music was overwhelming. This audience, the most diverse that I've ever seen in a concert hall of this caliber, was an important part of the experience, and the line between stage and auditorium disappeared...to everyone's advantage. The musicians (many with classical backgrounds) were inspired; the well-dressed audience was transported and anyone who was lucky enough to be there, will never forget it. I know I won't!

(5-Stars)

Nick

A beautifully sung, and intelligently mounted production of a rarely performed Mozart opera. Even with three other excellent singing actresses on stage with her, Lorraine Hunt stole the show.

(4- Stars)

"Platee" by Rameau

The only reason to drag this oddity out of its' 18th-century closet, is to give people like me, something to talk about. We can talk about the outrageous costumes by fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, or we can talk about the humorously vulgar and sometimes beautiful choreography by director/choreographer Mark Morris. But what is it? Is it a ballet with music, or is it an opera with dance? Actually, what it really is, is a freak, like its' main character Platee...a water "sprite" sung by a man, in the most hideous costume ever worn on an opera stage! See it if you must, but be warned, it's not "La Boheme!"

(1- Star)

OPERA REVIEW- "THE MERRY WIDOW" (at the Metropolitan Opera House)

First, to set the matter straight, "The Merry Widow" is an operetta (not an opera,) with much of the "plot" being told through spoken dialogue, like a Broadway musical. The fact that it has never been done at the Met before, is a tribute to the wisdom of past managements, who have restricted the operettas in the repertory to Strauss" "Die Fledermaus," and Offenbach's "La Perichole,"(both superior works.) The fact that it's being done NOW, is a tribute to the power of its' stars, Placido Domingo and Fredericka VonStade. The charm of this new production (and it IS charming,) comes from the beautiful music (which has never been sung better,) and an excellent translation of the very cheesy libretto. On the negative side is the hideous production, with sets that look like they were thrown together from the left-overs of Christmas spectaculars at Radio City! Over her long and wonderful career, Fredericka VonStade has always maintained the image of the "girl-next-door," never the diva. The role of Hanna Glawari requires a diva with a capital "D." The last time that I saw "The Merry Widow," was over at the New York City Opera where the Hanna was Beverly Sills (who was sitting a few boxes over from mine last night!) Now, THAT'S a diva! Therefore, with no larger-than-life Hanna, and with a charming but aging Danilo (Domingo,) there was little or no chemistry between the two mega-stars. That's fatal in "The Merry Widow." My opinion notwithstanding, the audience LOVED it!!

(3-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "Tristan und Isolde"

Every 40 or 50 years, two Wagnerian singers come along, with the God-given talent and endurance to perform the most demanding roles in all of opera. Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner have been singing these roles around the world in preparation for doing them at the Met...and now they're here. They are magnificent! Wagner wrote inspired music for two human characters as opposed to his usual helmeted gods and goddesses. Tristan and Isolde are real people with real passions. Their love story is universal, and their music soars. Eaglen and Heppner sing above the huge Wagnerian orchestra, and their voices fill the house. Amazing! The production, although stylized, is startlingly beautiful, but doesn't detract from the people in it. The opera is 5 hours long and when it's over, you feel that you've lived through a rare experience. Many people will SAY that they were in the opera house tonight; I'm glad that I WAS!(5-Stars)

New York City Opera:  "Il Viaggio a Reims" This rarity by Rossini is almost never performed, possibly because it has ten principal singing roles requiring ten top singers. To New York City Opera's credit, they found ten new young, handsome/beautiful singers who fit the bill perfectly. The performances were magnificent; the acting was as good as the singing! The music, treacherously difficult for the singers, was a joy to hear. This one's a winner( 5-stars)

New York City Opera: "Ariodante" I hate Handel! In spite of the fact that I was bored to death for most of this 3-hour opera, due to the repetitive nature of Handel's style of music, I can appreciate that the singers were in top form singing the baroque music as well as it could possibly be sung, anywhere in the world. The costumes and sets were lavish; they kept me from nodding off.(3-stars)

Opening Night of the Metropolitan Opera: Although it may not be the exclusive affair that it used to be, the opening night of the Met is still an occasion for pulling out the tuxedos, the gowns, and the family jewels. Our group of seven (Vera, Lillian, Pat, Connie, Marty, Chris...and me, of course) looked splendid enough to cause heads to turn as we paraded through the plaza and up the grand staircase of the opera house to a sumptuous dinner at the Grand Tier restaurant. Surrounded by other formally-clad diners, under massive arrangements of flowers, with trumpeters on the staircases heralding the arrival of the ticket holders, this is a memorable event for even the most jaded of opera-goers. With everyone looking like a celebrity, it was hard to spot the real celebrities

(Mayor Giuliani, Bruce Willis, Barbara Walters, Calvin Klein, Jeremy Irons, John Glover, etc.)

The operas being performed were the famous twins, "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" or "Cav" and "Pag" as they're known in opera circles.

"Cavalleria Rusticana" Why the new hot tenor, Jose Cura, chose to make his Met debut in an opera where the soprano always steals the show is unfathomable. His mentor, Placido Domingo, certainly knows better. What could he have been thinking? So, how was he? His voice, although not as big as that of Domingo or Pavarotti, certainly fills the house. He acts up a storm (very believable and athletic,) and he looks great!! Dolora Zajick, the Santuzza, blew the roof off.(5-stars)

"Pagliacci" Placido Domingo was a perfect Canio...believable as a tormented, jealous husband driven to the shocking double murder of the finale. His singing, in this role made famous by Enrico Caruso, was always wonderful. Speaking of Caruso, with this performance, Domingo broke Caruso's record for singing in the opening nights at the Met. Dwayne Croft sang the supporting role of Silvio beautifully, as though Silvio was the star of the opera. Veronica Villaroel was OK...nothing more. It's about time to retire this Zeffirelli production; it's starting to look a little shopworn!(4-stars)

After the performance, people seemed reluctant to let go of this magical evening, wandering aimlessly in the plaza, photographing each other in front of the fountain, or the soaring arches and massive Chagalls at the Met. We did the same!!

Nick

METROPOLITAN OPERA REVIEW- Mefistofele

I love this opera, with its' flow of melody from beginning to end. With all of its' money, you would think that the Met could have come up with a new production of Mefistofele, rather than borrowing the tired Swiss one from Geneva that's been kicking around San Francisco and Chicago for the past 15 years. No matter; it still looks beautiful, and the voices were great. This is Samuel Ramey's opera, and he is the best devil around! Richard Leech matches him note for note as Faust. Surely the Met could have come up with a better Marguerite than Veronica Villaroel. I just don't like her voice...or her roly-poly looks! Let's hope that we don't have to wait another 25 years to have a new production of Mefistofele at the Met. (4-Stars)

OPERA REVIEWS (2000-2001 Season)

METROPOLITAN OPERA REVIEW- "FIDELIO"

What a pity that Beethoven wrote only one opera, because it's such a powerful and overpowering work. But instead of complaining, it's better to be thankful that we HAVE "Fidelio. "(One of my favorite composers, Gustav Mahler never even wrote ONE opera!) The Met has mounted "Fidelio" in a no-expenses-spared new production, set in a modern-day prison that could serve as a set for the TV show "Oz." The singers of the two main roles are as good as it gets...Karita Mattila and Ben Heppner. The conductor is James Levine. How wonderful it is to see it all come together in such a perfect way. This tale of freedom lost and freedom regained is a universal one, and Beethoven set it to magnificent music. This ranks up there with the Met's most memorable productions; truly exceptional(5-Stars)

CONCERT REVIEW- Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel at the MET

Two of the most powerful voices in opera today, belong to two of the most charismatic personalities. On stage, the chemistry between them is magical, as it was in the unforgetable Met production of "The Marriage of Figaro" two seasons ago. Unfortunately, they haven't appeared together in an opera since then. So, this joint recital was a welcome event. And then Bartoli did what she's been doing a lot of lately...she cancelled! Olga Borodina a great mezzo and colleague at the Met, was

substituted. And then Borodina cancelled...it must be catching! Some good Met singers were rounded up at the last minute and substituted for the ailing divas, and ultimately, we did have a fine concert, but it wasn't the super-concert that we opera-lovers paid all of that money to hear. All in all, a big disappointment, but an enjoyable evening nonetheless.

(3-Stars)

Nick

METROPOLITAN OPERA-"TURANDOT"

In this 13-year-old Franco Zeffirelli production of "Turandot," there is a scene that is the most spectacular scene on any stage in the world today. It's the "mother-of-pearl" Imperial Palace of China, with its blue on-stage ponds, crossed by white marble bridges, on which move hundreds of singers and dancers dressed in ivory and gold opulent costumes. The fact that this is opera at its grandest, is irrelevant to many of the tourists who flock to what has become one of New York's most popular tourist attractions! Luckily for opera lovers, the three main roles are being sung by three of operas greatest voices, Jane Eaglen, Angela Gheorgiou, and Richard Margison. I dare you to hear Margison sing "Nessun Dorma" without thinking of either the Three Tenors, or the World Cup!

(5-Stars)

NEW YORK CITY OPERA-"THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES"

How do you mount a production of one of the most rarely performed operas in the repertory? Well, in this case, you take the music of Prokofiev, you dress it up in glorious sets and costumes by children's book illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where The Wild Things Are,) and coax the director, Frank Corsaro, to milk it for every laugh that you can get! The result is a Sendak blockbuster show, that could easily become a holiday classic, like "The Nutcracker," "The Wizard of Oz," or "The Sound of Music," even though it has nothing to do with any specific holiday. It's a feast for the ears and the eyes. Take the kids; they'll love it!

(5-Stars)

METROPOLITAN OPERA REVIEW- "IL TROVATORE"

By stripping away the trappings of 16th Century Spain, director Graham Vick takes the complicated and sometimes absurd plot of "Il Trovatore," and makes it its strongest feature. The story of twin brothers separated at birth and raised, on the one hand by gypsies and on the other by nobles, and who come together as adults to fight for the love of the same noblewoman, is now dramatic and often moving. But, Il Trovatore is all about the glorious music of Verdi and this was the strength of this new production. The magnificent singing of Delora Zajick as the gypsy mother of one of the brothers, was not a surprise. She's always outstanding. But to hear two singers who are not my favorites (Neil Shikoff and Roberto Frontali) as the brothers, do such a remarkable job, was really a surprise. Add to this the excellent singing of Marina Mechariakova, and you have an opera performance worthy of what Verdi wrote. The audience loved it, especially the people in the box next to mine...Mayor Rudi Giuliani and his guests, including the son of Placido Domingo. They were on their feet cheering! (The conductor, Carlo Rizzi was erratic, and some of the sets were bad, therefore not 5-Stars.)

(4 1/2-Stars)

Nick

NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OPERA THEATER- "RITA" and "VIVA LA MAMMA"

Why the prestigious New England Conservatory Opera Theater chose to perform their Donizetti double-bill at Northeastern University's Blackman Auditorium is a mystery, but after viewing these two obscure one-act "operas," it's an even greater mystery why they chose to perform them at all. Although the always fine Conservatory orchestra performs the charming and often beautiful Donizetti music wonderfully, the singers on stage are dreadful. Hasn't anyone told these aspiring young performers that even opera singers are required to act nowadays? What they were doing on stage is at the level of children dressing up in their mother's clothing, and performing in the backyard for their friends!

(1-Star)

Nick

 "Nabucco" at the Met

This early work by a very young Giuseppe Verdi, is famous for 3 things: (1) the well-known overture filled with recognizable melodies,(2)the even MORE well-known Hebrews Chorus, "Va Pensiero," which became the rallying cry for Italians during the revolution that established Italy's reunification as a country, and (3) the treacherously difficult music that Verdi wrote for the lead soprano...music that has destroyed the voices of several famous singers in the past. Why anyone would chose to sing the role of Abigaille is beyond me, but soprano Andrea Gruber tackled it and sang it beautifully. Let's hope that it hasn't destroyed HER voice. Along with the three historically famous things about this opera, can now be added a fourth with this new production...(4) one of the largest, tallest, revolving sets ever built for the enormous Met stage. It depicts the Temple of Jerusalem (in flames!) as well as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon! Stage designer John Napier (who designed "Les Miserables" for Broadway) did himself proud. This opera tells the story of the biblical Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) and his conquest of Jerusalem. It requires some incredible singers and this new production had them. In addition to Andrea Gruber, there's the always dependable Samuel Ramey and Juan Pons, and two fine newcomers, Marianna Tarasov and Francisco Casanova (albeit a VERY fat Casanova!) They all handled the beautiful Verdi music perfectly. James Levine (looking very sick) conducted expertly.

(5-Stars)

"La Boheme" at the New York City Opera

It's been ages since I saw this opera acted and sung by people who actually looked like 25-year-old starving Parisians! This cast was near perfect and I predict great things for two of the singers (both are Mexican.) Tenor Rolando Villazon (Rudolfo) and baritone Alfredo Daza (Marcello) are young, handsome, with powerful voices, and charming personalities. Remember their names. The director chose to move the action of the story up to WWI, and so we get a Cafe Momus with soldiers in uniforms and Act III set in and around a troop train with empty coffins banked on the station. It was very effective. A memorable production, beautifully sung AND acted.

(5-Stars)

 "The Gambler" at the Met

This was the Metropolitan Premiere of Prokofiev's rarely performed opera (outside of Russia.) I was hesitant about seeing it, but then I told myself that Prokofiev could be beautifully melodic ("Romeo and Juliet" ballet; "The Love for Three Oranges, and "Peter and the Wolf.") I should have listened to my instincts. "The Gambler" bored me to tears. There isn't one piece of melodic music in the entire 2 1/2 hour opera. There's some drama in the Dostoevsky story, and the set design was striking, but all in all, not an enjoyable evening at the opera!

(1-Star)

Nick

OPERA REVIEW: "RIGOLETTO" (at the New York City Opera)

I knew that something was wrong when I realized that the chattering tourists from Montana (who were seated in my row,) were louder than the combined voices of the tenor (the Duke) and the baritone (Rigoletto) coming from the stage. The tenor, although tall, dark, and handsome, was an operetta tenor venturing into the world of grand opera. In the animal world, that would be the equivalent of a poodle trying to have sex with an elephant! The soprano (Gilda) had a decent enough voice, the minimalist sets and costumes were attractive, and the orchestra and chorus were very good. But all in all, this was not a strong production for the City Opera. Oh well, even a Rigoletto-lite is better than no Rigoletto at all!

(2 1/2-Stars)

Nick

OPERA REVIEW- "Luisa Miller" (at the MET)
The Met's second new production of this season is certainly the hit of the opera season so far. In a beautifully traditional production, the sets (and costumes) by Santo Loquasto (making his debut here) are sumptuous recreations of Tyrolean Tudor castles, village squares, and inns. The singers (Marina Mescheriakova, Neil Shicoff, Nikolai Putilin, and Denyce Graves) are some of the best interpreters of the music of Verdi, that the Met has on its roster. They're reliable, they look good, and they even acted well. That's a lot to be said.  The conducting of James Levine, as always, was excellent. (I'm looking forward to his taking over for Seiji Ozawa as the new Maestro of our Boston Symphony Orchestra.) Score one for the Met!
((5-Stars)
Nick

CONCERT REVIEW- "THE BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB"(Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer)
Close your eyes and it's 1950, you're in the world's largest nightclub, the Tropicana, sipping Cuba Libres, thinking of Ernest Hemingway, and listening to the elegant, passionate sounds of the Cuban big band, the Orquesta Irbahim Ferrer...the Buena Vista Social Club. This is the sound of pre-Castro Cuba, when Cuba was run by the dictator Battista and the American mafia, and it was the Las Vegas of the Caribbean. This was a time when "hispanic" meant something exotic and not something roughly woven into the fabric of our own country. If you saw the movie "The Buena Vista Social Club" (if you haven't, rent it!) then you know that this band is made up of men in their 60's and 70's and is fronted by 80-year-old singer Ibrahim Ferrer. Since the movie made them famous, they've become rich, touring the world, and appearing to ecstatic audiences in sold-out houses. They still play with elegance, passion, skill, and soul and could easily match anything done by people half their ages. We were in one of those sold-out houses last night at the Orpheum in Boston and it rocked! The audience, as diverse as anyone could imagine, loved it...as did we. (I only wish that I wasn't sitting behind a cow of a woman who jumped, rocked, and obscured the stage at times. She was the type who spent the day cleaning hotel toilets, and used this wonderful concert to let off steam.) All of the individual musicians (especially pianist Roberto Fonseco, trombonist Demetrio Muniz, bongo player Robertico Millionario and of course singer Ibrahim Ferrer) are stars, but when they come together , the effect is magicial.
(4-Stars)
Nick

When the Met decided to replace its 35-year-old spectacular production of Strauss' "Die Frau Ohne Schatten," I was wary, because I love Strauss, and this was an historic and unforgettable production. Not to worry. The new production is even better than the original one. The sets, costumes and lighting (by Herbert Wernicke,) are magnificent, utilizing the full resources of the Met's stage machinery. But, the emphasis here, (as in the original,) is on the music, and the music of Strauss is served beautifully, by a perfect cast, and a super-conductor. The conductor is Christian Thielemann, the darling of the concert and opera world right now. He conducts brilliantly, and he looks like a movie star! The quintet of singers (Deborah Voigt, Wolfgang Brendel, Gabriele Schnaut, Reinhild Runkel, and Thomas Moser) couldn't be better. Not only do they sing up a storm, riding over the huge Strauss orchestra, but they know how to act as well. Watch their expressions as they sing and interact with one another...they know what they're singing about. The story, about an Empress who casts no shadow, is really an allegory about fertility and childbirth. But the story is just the framework on which to hang the difficult music, and those huge, imaginative sets. When the Met does it right, it's a glorious evening in the opera house.

(5-Stars)

Nick

NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY CONCERT REVIEW- HONORS ORCHESTRA

We're so lucky to have a world-class musical facility like the NEC right around the corner. An acoustically perfect gem, with musicians to match these incredible acoustics. Last night's concert was a perfect example of an excellent program...and a typical one. The Honors Orchestra made up of the graduating seniors, was conducted by noted composer and conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. They all performed brilliantly. The program opened with the mercifully short Media's Meditation and Dance of Vengence of Samuel Barber. Then, what followed was Schumann's melodic and powerful Piano Concerto in A minor. The soloist was Dizhou Zhao, a 3rd-year student from China, who won this year's piano competition. It was obvious why. He played the difficult music with no music in front of him, as though it were chop-sticks. Incredible! After the intermission, the orchestra  performed the beautiful Symphony No.4 in E Minor  by Brahms. It was like a tonic, if you had just had a stressful afternoon. All of this wonderful music, and I was in bed by 10:30pm!

(4-Stars)

CONCERT REVIEW- NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY'S 23rd ANNUAL GOSPEL JUBILEE

Last year, I attended my first Gospel Jubilee at the Conservatory and was overwhelmed (see my review of THAT concert.) Last night, I took two Israeli friends back to THIS year's Jubilee, and once again I was thrilled with this magnificent annual present to Boston audiences. Primarily a tribute to African-American church music, this concert becomes, for audiences of ALL races and religious persuasions, a hymn to life. As I said in last year's review, it is a combination of Christian church service, rousing choral recital, rock/jazz concert, preachers speaking directly to the needs of ALL people, and virtuoso piano recital. The audience is very much a part of the performance with its responses to the singers, hand-waving, and singing along with the performers. It was wonderful to see two Israeli Jewish men...my friends...on their feet applauding and shouting with the rest of the "participants" last night. One of the many things that amazes me about this event each year is the expert, brilliant piano playing of the accompanists. Each could be a concert soloist, and probably has been. As always, the 200-voice New England Millennium Choir tore the roof off of Jordan Hall...our acoustically-perfect little jewel of a concert hall. If you're anywhere near Boston next year at this time, don't miss the 24th Annual Gospel Jubilee concert. It's a night to remember.

(5-Stars) 

How do you make a new production of the Mozart masterpiece "Don Giovanni" appear fresh to a new audience? For one thing, you can hire a new director and tell him/her to thrill us with a fresh new way of looking at this classic. (Similar to what Peter Sellars did years ago when he set the opera in present-day Harlem; it worked beautifully.) Also, you can create exciting new sets and costumes. (The Met did this with its Franco Zeffirelli production; that also worked.) But, even with an exciting new director, and fresh sets and costumes, the voices must soar in this treacherously difficult opera. And soar they do at the City Opera, in this first new production of "Don Giovanni" there, in over a decade. Several artists were making their debuts in this production, most notably Peter Coleman-Wright as the Don, Alexandrina Pendatchanska as Donna Anna, and Nathan Berg as Leporello. Add the always-incredible Amy Burton (as Donna Elvira) to this group, and you have an ensemble cast made in heaven. I hope that somebody at the City Opera planned to capture this on video, because it's a production for everyone...even those people who hate opera. What could be more exciting than murder, seduction, and the flames of hell for the rapist Don Giovanni...all set to the glorious music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Inspired!

(5-Stars)

Great cities are often judged by their sports teams and their opera companies. Boston is a first-rate sports city, but a second-rate opera town. Stephen Lord's Boston Lyric Opera Company has not yet achieved the international acclaim achieved by Sarah Caldwell's late-great Opera Company of Boston, the birthplace of Beverly Sills' career. The latest BLO production is "Don Pasquale." This is the same production seen at Glimmerglass and the New York City Opera several years ago, the one in which the setting was moved to a commedia del arte company in the time of Moliere. BLO uses relative unknowns in its leading roles, some of whom have gone on to greater fame in other houses (Deborah Voigt, etc.) No one from THIS production will go on to achieve fame in the world's great houses, however, it is a very competent production. The story of "Don Pasquale" involves a foolish old man, who is embarrassed into doing the right thing for, and by, the young people around him. The Norina of Sari Gruber lacks the charm and vocal pyrotechnics necessary for this role, but she gets the job done. The males are better, especially the Ernesto of tenor Charles Castronovo. Pasquale and Malatesta are fine in the difficult patter duets written by Donizetti, in this, his most charming and comedic opera. No mad scenes here! Conductor Stephen Lord kept it all moving along, although at an uneven pace. I love this score, and it's always good to hear it live, even if it's not under the best of circumstances.

(3-Stars)

The theater season that's about to come to an end in two months, has been a unique and unusual one for one big reason. Two of the best musicals have been one-woman shows: "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty," and "Mostly Sondheim: Barbara Cook." Last night, Barbara Cook brought her hit show to Boston for just one night, and she packed Symphony Hall to the rafters. For those of you who are not familiar with this 76-year-old song stylist, here's a quick refresher. She started out as a pretty and talented ingenue as the star of such Broadway classics as "Candide," "The Music Man," and "She Loves Me." When she ended her career on Broadway, she started a new career in the world of cabaret, and there she became its queen. As with other great song stylists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Barbra Streisand, Barbara Cook takes each song, and turns it into a 3-act play. Composers adore her because she sings their songs the way they meant them to be sung...every word is important to tell a story in song. Her current show consists mostly of songs written by Stephen Sondheim, and of songs by other composers, that he has said that he would have liked to have written! The adoring audience stopped the show several times with standing ovations. Try to see this show on Broadway if you haven't already seen it...it's a winner!

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "AGRIPPINA" (at the New York City Opera)

Handel is one of my least favorite composers, and his operas sound, to my ear at least, like the sung version of those hateful, repetitious Czerny exercises that I was forced to play as a young piano student. "Agrippina" is yet another one of his boring repetitious operas. To date, I've suffered through four of them, and I still haven't changed my opinion...I hate Handel! If you're still interested, this one has to do with Agrippina, the mother of Nero, and her obsessive plotting to put him on the throne, now occupied by her husband Claudius. With a mezzo soprano singing Nero, and two high-voiced counter-tenors in the cast, it sounded like the stage was filled with eunuchs! My apologies to any eunuchs who might be reading this review.

(2-Stars)

(4-Stars)

METROPOLITAN OPERA REVIEW- "SLY"

Even though they're past their prime, the "three tenors" can still make opera companies do what they want them to do.  Like mount an obscure opera, just because it's easier for them to sing at this stage in their careers. Jose Carreras did that with Wolf-Ferrari's rarely-performed opera "Sly," at The Washington Opera, and Placido Domingo brought it to the Met, as his own starring vehicle . Well, is the opera any good? Yes, and no. Although the music is melodic, it's completely forgettable. While it would appear that the singers are singing their hearts out, nothing in the score is very difficult or challenging. As proof of this, Domingo was scheduled to conduct a full opera following this matinee performance. Something he could never do after singing something of substance. The story is somewhat interesting. A group of bored nobles kidnap a drunkard from a tavern, put him up in their palace, and convince him that he's the master of the house. The ending is tragic! Would I ever see "Sly" again. No!

(2-Stars)

I love to hear ANY music at Symphony Hall because of its overwhelming beauty and perfect acoustics. However, the springtime Pops concerts at Symphony are to concert music, what fast food is to fine dining...fat-filled and loaded with calories, with very little quality in the contents. Tonight's concert was devoted to patriotic music...obscure and rarely performed Americana, by such composers as Morton Gould, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson and Meredith Wilson. After listening to two embroidered versions of "The Star Spangled Banner,"and pieces entitled "Song of Democracy," "Amber Waves," "America, the Dream Goes On," and "The Promise of Living, from The Tender Land," it's easy to understand why they're rarely performed. There was even a new piece entitled "The Pledge of Allegiance," written and sung by an 8-year-old! Now, please don't get me wrong, no one loves America as much as I do, but having to listen to an entire evening of this trite and mediocre elevator music, is enough to make even a jingoistic patriot defect.

(2 1/2-Stars)

I guess that one of the signs of aging is that you start to go to concerts of the children of people that you saw in concert decades ago. That happened to me last night. Years ago, I saw Julio Iglesias in concert. He was never a favorite of mine, but it was a birthday gift for my sister. What made the concert worthwhile was the surprise guest appearance of Willie Nelson, who at the time, had a hit single with Iglesias, called "For All the Girls I've Loved Before." Unfortunately, there were no surprise guests last night, (unless you count the wonderful opening act, "Soluna,") and we had to sit, on a night when the show started an hour late, through an entire evening of Iglesias and his saccarine-sweet Hispanic "everything-sounds-the-same" Pop crap! His appeal is mainly to pre-pubescent chicas who love everything about him, from his pretty face to his breathless voice. For them, he slinks and shimmies all over the stage like a gay matador. He's not as blatantly in-your-face commercial as the charismatic but now out-of-the-loop Ricky Martin, nor is he anywhere near as talented as the other Hispanic pop idol, Marc Anthony. Which makes him sort of a modern-day Julio Iglesias (where is he today?) Yikes, I've come full circle!

(2-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "DEAD MAN WALKING" (at the New York City Opera)

"Overwhelming," riveting," "chilling," "devastating," and "emotionally draining," are words that are almost never used to describe a new American opera. But, in the case of composer Jake Heggie's opera "Dead Man Walking," they, and others describe perfectly the raw force of this new work. Based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, and the Sean Penn/Susan Sarandon film, it tells the story of the unusual relationship between a young convicted killer on death row, and his spiritual advisor, a naive nun, Sister Helen Prejean. From the opening scene, in which two naked teenagers are brutally murdered, to the shocking finale, depicting the execution (by lethal injection,) of Joseph Rocher, the opera is mesmerizing, as no other that I've ever seen. The music is perfectly suited to the material. Nothing sweet and hummable, but there are some beautiful melodic arias, duets, quartets, and even a sextette. Some enterprising producer should get the composer to take this to Broadway after it concludes its run of ten performances at the City Opera. It could run there for years! See it, if you can.

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW' "IL TRITTICO" (at the New York City Opera)

Two tragedies and a comedy make up this triple-bill of one act operas that Puccini wrote as his penultimate work. The New York City Opera mounted three beautiful productions of this rarely performed work. Two of the three operas, "Il Tabarro" ("The Cloak,") and "Gianni Schicchi," were being done so that their star baritone, Mark Delevan, could sing the starring roles in each. In the first, he was the Parisian bargeman who murders his wife's lover, and in the other, he is the hilarious Florentine conman, Gianni Schicchi. If he could, I'm sure that he would have loved to have sung the part of the tragic nun in the third opera, "Suor Angelica!" The first two operas are very dark, and, unlike typical Puccini operas, they are not very melodic. "Gianni Schicchi" on the other hand, is full of glorious melody and hilarious shtick, acted and sung to perfection by an ideal cast of singing actors. If you can sit through two hours of dark and brooding music, "Schicchi" is certainly worth the wait.

(3-Stars)

Fire the director and ship him back to Italy. That would be a start in correcting what's wrong with this dreadfully embarrassing production of the usually indestructible "Barber of Seville!" Director Stefano Vizioli saw this as an adolescent, foolish slapstick comedy with BACKGROUND MUSIC by Rossini. The Rosina, the only singer on stage with a decent voice, looked more like Rosie O'Grady than Rosina of Seville. But the worst embarrassment was the tenor, Lawrence Brownlee. Now I don't demand that the tenor look like Brad Pitt, but he shouldn't look like Al Roker, the Today Show's weathermen, or even worse, Oprah Winfrey in drag! His tiny voice didn't compensate for his ridiculous appearance and his absurd acting. The bass who "sang" Basilio had a voice that couldn't carry beyond the third row. Maybe that was the fault of the orchestra, which played loudly and badly throughout, and even managed to botch up the usually foolproof overture. The character part of Berta, the old servant, was sung by a young woman who was directed to act like a slut from "Canterbury Tales." The Figaro, was sung by a baritone who was so lacking in presence and voice, that there were times that you forgot that he was onstage...and the opera is named for him! If you're forced to go, leave at intermission. The second act is so full of shtick that, at times, I couldn't even tell that there was music being played. I could go on, but why bother.

(1-Star)

OPERA REVIEW- "SALOME" (New York City Opera)

It's easy to understand how this shocking opera caused a riot, and brought police into the opera house, when it was first performed in Germany, in 1905. Even today, the shock value is still there. Taken from the play by Oscar Wilde, it's the story of the biblical "whore princess" Salome, and her relationship with her incestuous parents (Herod and Herodias,) as well as her sexual desire for the imprisoned John the Baptist. The music, by Richard Strauss, is overwhelming, and a trial for the singers, whose voices have to carry over the massive 100-piece orchestra required by Strauss. And carry they did! Especially the amazing Mark Delavan, as John the Baptist. Eilana Lappalainen as Salome, does not have a huge voice, but it's a fine one, and it's so nice to see a beautiful singer actually dance the erotic Dance of the Seven Veils, and make it believable and sexy. This production is set in a huge glass atrium filled with silver palm trees and dominated by an enormous staircase that curves up to the full height of the stage. The director moved the actors quickly and dramatically around this massive set, and the single act opera (1 hour and 50 minutes with no intermission,) ended all too soon, with Salome being murdered, as she cradled the severed head of the Baptist in her groin! Don't bring the children.

(5-Stars)

The question is, "why is this rarely-performed Bellini opera being given an expensive new production at the Met this season?" The answer is, because reigning opera diva Renee Fleming wanted to stretch her vocal wings in the area of bel canto...not her area of expertise to date. So how did she do? Although she sang beautifully, I was always thinking of the other sopranos who have sung this ornamented style so much better. Singers like Callas, Caballe, Sutherland, and Sills. Marcello Giordani who sang the tenor role, hit all the high notes (and God knows, there were lots of them!) but, at times, it was obvious that he was straining to do this. The opera itself, "a Sicilian melodrama," (isn't that redundant?) is very melodic and filled with beautiful visual stage pictures. However, the action is static, and the translation is old-fashioned and corny...maybe deliberately so. If you're a fan of Renee Fleming (and who isn't?) this performance is a must I suppose, and besides you'll see her in 5 elaborate and beautiful costumes...if that's your thing! Be warned, however, there's only one intermission in 3 hours.

(4-Stars)

With some rare exceptions, like George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," Leonard Bernstein's "Candide," Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," and Frank Loesser's "The Most Happy Fella," I don't like any operas written after the last great opera composers, Puccini and Strauss, wrote their last works.; in other words, after about 1920. To my ears, anything written after that is just not melodic. Try humming an aria from "Wozzeck." William Bolcom has written this new opera, based on the Arthur Miller play, and it should never have been written! It adds absolutely nothing to what is already a classic...the play is already operatic. It's still the story of a family of Sicilian-Americans who live, and labor, on the docks of Red Hook in Brooklyn in the 1950's. The father, Eddie Carbone, is either too dumb or too emotionally involved, to realize that he's in love with the niece that he raised like a daughter. The rest is Greek tragedy. Bolcom has written only one memorable aria, "New York Lights," which could easily become a cross-over popular hit. The rest is just background music!

(1-Star)

OPERA REVIEW- "LES TROYENS" (Metropolitan Opera)

There are not too many opera companies in the world that can afford to mount a production of Berlioz' five-hour monumental spectacle, dealing with the falls of both Troy and Carthage, and which requires at least six major singing stars...plus the Trojan Horse! The Met has not only done it, but has created its biggest hit in decades. This is what opera is all about. The three stars portraying Aeneas, Cassandra, and Dido are required to sing some of the most difficult music ever written, sing it full out for long stretches of time, and act these parts with believability. The Met has these stars. A trimmed-down Ben Heppner (who lost 90 pounds) looks buffed, and sounds incredible in the demanding role of Aeneas. Deborah Voigt and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson as the women in his life, match, and often surpass him in power and emotional intensity. In this production, even the lesser roles are cast with stars (Dwayne Croft, Elena Zaremba, Gregory Turay, etc.) Director Francesca Zambello and designer Maria Bjornson (who died just before this, her Met debut,) have recreated the fall of Troy in all its terrifying splendor amidst stylized but dramatic and enormous sets. The burning of Troy, the suicide of the Trojan women, the entrance of the Trojan Horse, the Royal Hunt and Storm, the glory of the utopia that was Carthage, etc., are all there on stage. With James Levine and the finest opera orchestra in the world in the pit, the five hours passed much too quickly, and you're left at the overpowering finale, wanting more. For five hours, I forgot about Iraq, burning night-clubs, transplanted organs, and terrorists under the bed!

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC" (New York City Opera)

The New York City Opera opened its Spring Opera Season last night, with Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music." Although it's neither Spring, nor is the Sondheim classic an opera, the night was a phenomenal success. The production was star-filled (Jeremy Irons, Claire Bloom, Juliet Stevenson, and Michele Pawk,) as was the audience ( Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Elaine Stritch, Barbara Cook, Polly Bergen, Marge Champion, James Naughton, and Sondheim himself.) This intelligent and thought-provoking musical, holds up beautifully after all of these years. In fact, the music and lyrics sound even more brilliant and creative than they did in the several times that I've seen it around the world, in the past. The credit must go to Irons, Stevenson and Bloom, who are magnificent. The story, based on Ingmar Bergman's film "Smiles of a Summer Night," concerns seven articulate Swedish aristocrats (and one maid,) in 19th Century Sweden, who become romantically and comically intertwined over a single weekend, and all to one of Sondheim's best, and most accessible scores. Theatergoers will be talking about this production for years to come.

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "FAUST" (Metropolitan Opera)

Angela Georghiou and Roberto Alagna, the husband and wife operatic duo, whose conceit and arrogance far exceed their good looks and talent, have once again screwed the paying public. Those of us who paid an exorbitant price to see this worn-out production of "Faust," simply for the "privilege" of seeing what the Alagnas could do with these roles, were shocked when they pulled out of the last two performances of the opera, "because of the war," and ran back to their home in France. They're now on my "you-know-what"- list of no-shows (along with Cecilia Bartoli,) whose performances I will boycott in the future. But now for the somewhat good news. Two good-looking young Texans, Emily Pulley and Marcus Haddock, sang in place of the missing Alagnas,  and they did just fine. James Morris was the Mephistopheles, a role that he can sing in his sleep. Although his voice has lost a lot of what it once had, he can still take on the devil! The production is a surrealistic mess, with rotating sets made to look like Gothic rock formations, with the church scene looking like it took place in the belly of a whale. It's no wonder that poor Marguerite was scared nearly to death! It's time for the Met to scrap this production and create a new one, possibly set in the 19th Century, where Gounod's music tells us that it belongs.

(2 1/2-Stars) 

CONCERT REVIEW- CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Symphony Hall, Boston)

Last night, the young Estonian conductor, Paavo Jarvi, brought the big sound of his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to our acoustically-perfect Symphony Hall, where it filled the majestic hall with sound...some if it magnificent, some perfectly awful! The first piece, a Boston premiere, was predictably dreadful, having been written in 1999. Nothing but noise for 20 minutes! The second piece, however, was magnificent. Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor was performed by Russian violinist Vadim Repin, and it was 40 minutes of perfect music performed brilliantly. This Siberian violinist is one of the greats. After the intermission, the orchestra performed the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E minor. It was too long (one hour,) and only intermittently big and exciting. My mind wandered most of the time!

(3-Stars)

The hottest new singing sensation on the New York club-scene right now is Peter Cincotti, who "flying in under the radar," so to speak, made his Boston debut last night, virtually unnoticed by our local media, at a one-night stand at Sculler's Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel. That his performance was sold-out is not surprising considering the fact that he's just come off of a 30-day completely sold-out engagement at New York's Oak Room, where celebrities were fighting to get in to hear him! Who is this guy who critics rave has inherited the mantle passed down from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mel Torme, to Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael Feinstein? Not surprisingly, his repertoire consists of the immortal standards of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Harold Arlen, etc. What IS surprising is that this native of Concord, Mass., is only 19 years old. He must be channeling someone! In his 1-1/2 hour set tonight, he played (piano) and sang his way through many of the classics, giving them a distinctive sound, but his solo piano playing of "After You've Gone," was alone worth the price of admission. He's a true song-stylist but an even greater jazz pianist. Even the Muppet's " Rainbow Connection" sounded fresh and sexy! If he comes to your town, beg, borrow, or steal a ticket to see Cincotti; he's an incredible artist...AND he's an undergraduate at Columbia!

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "FLAVIO" (New York City Opera)

I approach each new production of a Handel opera with dread, because, to put it mildly, I'm not a big fan of Handel. I keep going to them with the hope that, one day, I will like one of them. In my opinion, the music in Handel's operas is dull, repetitious, and endlessly long. Here's what I hate about Handel: (1) the ridiculous plots; (2) the countertenors (men who have trained their voices to sound like women, like the Italian castrati of the 18th Century, who gained their high voices at an awful price!) (3) the ridiculous repetitiveness of the music, where singers will sing one sentence, and then repeat it four or five times in slightly different variations. If the repetitions were eliminated, a three-hour Handel opera would be only 20 minutes. This, I might be able to sit through! Otherwise, it's torture.

(1-Star)

CONCERT REVIEW- THE BOSTON POPS (Conductor Keith Lockhart) with RICKY SKAGGS and PETER CINCOTTI

Peter Cincotti made his debut with the Boston Pops last night, (as did Ricky Skaggs,) in a concert that was more like three separate concerts, and which never really came together as a cohesive whole. The first "act" of the concert consisted of Ricky Skaggs and his band in a half-hour set of Tennessee Blue Grass. It was foot-stomping and thrilling. The second "act" consisted of the usual Pops fare of light classical (the theme from "Silverado,") and classical (the Overture to "La Forza del Destino") pieces. This was also well done, although the brass tended to overwhelm the strings in the classical numbers. The third "act," and the reason that I came to this particular concert, consisted of Peter Cincotti (and his three-piece band.) Unfortunately, in the half-hour allotted to him, he only got to sing four numbers, all of which I had heard him perform when I saw him at Sculler's Jazz Club in his Boston debut last month. In this new venue, it was apparent that Cincotti is one of the most exciting talents to come onto the scene in years. It was also apparent that, being backed by a full orchestra ("This is the first time that I've played with an orchestra,") added nothing to a Cincotti performance. In fact, he's heard to better advantage in a cabaret-like venue, with just his extremely talented three-piece band, his piano, and his overwhelming talent. He was obviously impressed by being in Symphony Hall, and playing with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart. But the Pops drowned out his magnificent piano-playing at times, and even his distinctive soft-spoken singing voice sometimes got lost on the overcrowded stage. This will undoubtedly happen to him again next month when he makes his Carnegie Hall debut. My advice to Mr. Cincotti? "Stick to Cabaret where nothing gets between you and your audience."

(4-Stars) 

CONCERT REVIEW- "THE BOSTON POPS FOURTH OF JULY CONCERT AT THE ESPLANADE  ON THE CHARLES RIVER"

New technology has done a lot to improve the experience of attending the premiere 4th of July concert...the Boston Pops at the Hatch Shell on the Charles, in the dozen years since I last experienced this event. Twenty five "towers of sound" banked with speakers, now line the Charles River on both the Boston and the Cambridge side of the Charles River. Jumbotron screens are placed at strategic points in the crowd, bringing the sights and sounds of the concert to everyone there, and not just to the lucky 10,000 who arrived at dawn to get into the oval area directly in front of the Hatch Shell. However, at least one aspect of technology altered the concert and took something away from it. This year, for the first time, the concert was telecast to a national audience...and certain concessions had to be made. The concert had to stop for commercials for one! But, more importantly, the fireworks spectacular was pushed back to 10:30pm (from 10:00,) and all of the fireworks were unloaded at once, making for a grand show for the viewers, but leaving the "1812 Overture" without any fireworks at all. Certainly a first for Boston. But, I'm nit-picking. All in all, the concert experience was magnificent. People come to this famous event for different reasons. Some come for the incredible fireworks spectacular (and it was amazing, with fireworks that I've never seen before.) Others come to hang out with their friends (and it seems as though everyone in Boston was here in this crowd of half a million people.) But some, like me, actually come to hear the music as well, and on this score, the concert didn't disappoint. Some of the highlights of the concert were: rising young opera star Indra Thomas' powerful and inspiring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (with the entire crowd coming to its feet as young people slowly removed their baseball caps,)  followed by what I thought was the most beautiful music of the evening, her singing of the "Ebben, ne andro lontana" aria, from Catalani's opera "La Wally." After this, conductor Keith Lockhart introduced the star attraction of the concert, and out marched the 400 voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and their voices filled the heavens with "God Bless America," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and, joined by country singer LeAnn Rimes, "America the Beautiful." A great day to be with friends...and to be an American!

(5-Stars) 

CONCERT REVIEW-"BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND AT FENWAY PARK"

Because it was an historic event...the very first concert at Fenway Park...I would have gone, regardless of the performer. However, because the performer was Bruce Springsteen (and the E Street Band) rather than Brittany Spears, P Diddy, or some other "trash-for-cash" here-today, gone-tomorrow non-entity, the show was memorable, AND enjoyable. The huge stage was out in the outfield, opposite home-plate, and I had a great seat (a right-infield box,) in the direct line of vision with "the Boss." The aisle seat was raised above all of the on-field seats (which were on a special metal flooring to protect the outfield grass,) and there was no one seated in front of me, so I could actually sit throughout the 3-hour concert. The concert started promptly at 8pm (more or less,) when Springsteen and the Band marched  onto the stage, where he sang about 800 of his best songs for about 3 hours! Where does this man get his energy from??? He was all over the stage, non-stop, for the entire concert. The audience was filled with Boston celebrities, with people like Cam Neely and the Jordan's Furniture men sitting in and around me! They loved him. Has anyone noticed that Bruce and Steven Van Zandt are starting to look alike? Yikes! Clarence Clemons was as much of a presence as usual, and in general, I would have to say that everyone on stage seemed to be energized by the Fenway setting, the incredibly receptive audience, and the warm summer evening. In spite of all the beer, I didn't see one fist-fight! All in all, one of Springsteen's best concerts, and one of Boston's more memorable events.

(5-Stars)  

CONCERT REVIEW- "RANDY NEWMAN" (at the Berklee Performance Center)

Lately, the word "legend" has been carelessly tossed around. It used to mean someone who had accomplished a lifetime of  outstanding, high-quality work. Now, the term has been applied to people with names like Brittney, Christina, and Justin...people who have just recently achieved puberty. Randy Newman IS a true legend. Ever since the 60's, this rock/pop icon has been writing outstanding songs, and performing them to audiences of his select fans. These fans have included people like The Beetles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, etc. Just a few weeks ago, I was talking to my cousins John and Kim, and we were wondering if Randy Newman would ever be performing again. Well, I'm happy to say that the answer is "yes" and I was lucky enough to hear him in concert tonight, at the Berklee Performance Center, a venue that's almost literally across the street from where I live! He looks older, with his full head of graying hair. But he still sounds the same...his voice is as throaty as ever. Once he starts to sing, you realize that people just don't write songs like this any more. The melodies are always deceptively beautiful. The words, however, are sarcastic, biting, brilliantly topical, hilarious, and often, heartbreakingly poignant. This man is cynical beyond the pain level of most people. He sang all of my favorites ("Short People," "The Great Nations of Europe," "Lonely at the Top," "Political Science,") and dozens more, for more than two wonderful hours. A truly memorable concert for all of us who were lucky enough to be there.

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "LUCIA di LAMMERMOOR" (New York City Opera)

I've seen fat "Lucias," glamourously thin "Lucias," and, in that ridiculous Met production, a "Lucia" who was directed to climb down a 100-foot-high wall of coffins, while singing the treacherously difficult music of the Mad Scene. But, I've never seen a visibly-pregnant one...until last night! When soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge found herself to be pregnant six months before her debut as "Lucia," the production-director was faced with a decision...replace her in the role, or incorporate her pregnancy into the part. He chose the latter, and judging from the results, it was the right decision. Now, Sir Walter Scott's fragile heroine Lucy of Lammermoor is even more fragile, and she has much more to lose when she thinks that she's been jilted at the altar by her lover, Edgar of Ravenswood! When her brother marries her off to someone else against her will, you can almost understand why she chopped her bridegroom to pieces on their wedding night! Almost! Miss Welch-Babidge sings like an angel, as do the other two leads, Cuban tenor Jorge Antonio Pita, and American Stephen Powell. This Lucia is beautifully sung and beautifully acted. In fact, Lucia's Mad Scene is the best one that I've ever seen. If there's a problem with this production, and there is, it has to do with the horrible sets and bizarre costumes. The set designs of Christine Jones seem to set this Scottish melodrama on a glacier in Antarctica, and the costumes of Constance Hoffman would be more appropriate in a Mad Max film or an "S & M" version of Macbeth. Both of these women are protegees of Julie Taymor. They've picked up her craziness, but not her genius. Now if we could just put those three lead singers into a Zeffirelli-designed Lucia, complete with tartans and kilts, that would be a production for the operatic history books!

(4-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "ALCINA" (New York City Opera)

One Handel too many: we left at the intermission after Act I.

(0-Stars)

CONCERT REVIEW- MARILYN HORNE & BARBARA COOK at SYMPHONY HALL ("Just Between Friends")

A "diva" is an admired, mature, and distinguished prima donna ("first lady",) of the musical world, who, over a lengthy and successful career, has paid her dues to her profession and to her fans, who think of her as a goddess (the Italian word for goddess is "diva.") Brittney Spears, Mariah Carey, Beyonce Knowles and Christina Aquillera are not divas; they're sexy girls who can sing. Marilyn Horne and Barbara Cook ARE divas; Horne who retired from the world of opera after a lengthy international career, and Cook who retired from the world of the Broadway Musical Theater, and then re-established herself as a star of the world of Cabaret. They were united for this sold-out concert at Symphony Hall for the very first time, and it was a triumph. The tuxedoed and gowned audience (including people like Nathan Lane,) loved every minute of it. The program consisted of the musical standards of Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim etc. These are songs that are nearly 50 years old, and they're still being sung all over the world. When they were sung by Horne and Cook, separately and together, they sounded as fresh as though they had been written yesterday. Both women sang beautifully and told interesting and amusing anecdotes between songs. But this audience came to hear these women sing, and sing they did. One can only hope that someone was capturing this historic event on video or at least CD. If not, then only a couple of thousand people were the lucky ones tonight!

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "BENVENUTO CELLINI" (Metropolitan Opera)

Carnival in Rome; the casting of a major Renaissance bronze sculpture; the conflict between its artist, Benvenuto Cellini, and his powerful patron, Pope Clement VII. Those are the elements of the plot of this rarely performed masterpiece by Hector Berlioz. In fact, the last time that I saw the opera, was at its American Premiere, 30 years ago, when it was done by the then world-famous Opera Company of Boston, led by Sarah Caldwell, and starring Jon Vickers. The Met has pulled out all the stops for this current production...the first time that its ever been done there. Set designer George Tsypin, and his costume designer Georgi Alexi-Miskhishvili, have brilliantly created a huge, abstract, sculpture-like setting, that brings in major elements of Renaissance design...the dome, the arch, and the grand staircases that climb to the sky, and peopled that setting with creatively-costumed (and a few naked) carnival revelers. The cast is perfect, with Marcello Giordani hitting all those treacherous high notes as Cellini, and Isabel Bayrekdarien, as his Teresa. If you love the music of Berlioz, as I do, then the 3 1/2 hours will slip quickly by, and you'll come out humming the music of the beautiful Roman Carnival Overture. If you're not a Berlioz fan, then go to see the wild Cirque du Soleil-like production, directed by Andrei Serban in his Met debut. The brilliant coup de theatre at the finale (the casting and revealing of the giant full-size statue of "Perseus Holding the Head of Medusa,") is alone worth the price of admission...even at the Met's insanely high ticket prices!

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "LA JUIVE" (Metropolitan Opera)

To the best of my knowledge, I've never heard one note of music from this sadly neglected opera. What a pity. It's a magnificent work. The present new production at the Met (borrowed from the Vienna State Opera,) is a musically and dramatically exciting 4 hours in the theater. The  theme of the opera is anti-semitism, and the story is a romantic tale of forbidden love between the Jewess Rachel and the Christian prince Leopold, during a period of fanatical hatred of the Jews...15th  Century Austria. The current production is set in the present, for no discernible reason! Tenor Neil Shicoff (the son of a cantor,) was born to play the role of Eleazar, Rachel's vengeful father. His devotion to the role and the opera, was instrumental in getting the Vienna production (in which he starred,) brought to the Met. Now, that's clout! One of the reasons that "La Juive" hasn't been done at the Met since the days when Caruso sang it 80 years ago, is that it's difficult to cast, requiring five star-quality singing actors, and they're not so easy to round up in one production. The Met has done it. All five singers are magnificent. This kind of singing doesn't happen very often on one stage, even at the Met. The five stars are Neil Shicoff, Soile Isokoski, Elizabeth Futral, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Eric Cutler. Some people will find the sets and costumes jarring. I thought that they were perfect, with a steeply angled stage, separating the world of the Christians (all white, above,) from the world of the Jews (all black, below.) It's dramatic, effective, and it makes the director's point, starkly and visually.

(5-Stars)  

OPERA REVIEW- "SALOME" (Metropolitan Opera)

When "Salome" was first performed 100 years ago, it caused near-riots, and the Metropolitan's first production of the opera was shut down by the police, the day after its premiere! Today, 100 years later, it's still causing controversy. The story of the Judaen princess, Salome, who dances for her lecherous father, Herod, in order to obtain the severed head of John the Baptist, has a magnificent score by Richard Strauss, but what to do with that Dance of the Seven Veils. Sopranos who can handle the treacherous music, don't usually feel comfortable dancing the dance, AND singing. Let's face it. It's a strip tease. None of this presented a problem to the beautiful and talented Karita Mattila, who not only sings and acts the role perfectly, but also dances the hottest Dance of the Seven Veils that I'VE ever seen...ending up with her completely naked. She looks damn good for a 43-year-old! (Last night's performance was being filmed to be shown on TV. How will they handle the full frontal nudity?) Just once, I'd like to see a production of "Salome" set in its true biblical period, instead of in some modern-day no-man's land. The production at the New York City Opera looks like it's set in the lobby of Caesar's Palace in Vegas. At least the Met's production has huge stylized sane dunes! All of the rest of the singers were wonderful, but Mattila stole the show...in every way. The staid Met audience ROARED its approval!

(5-Stars) 

OPERA REVIEW- "DON GIOVANNI" (Metropolitan Opera)

To many people, this is the perfect opera...it has everything. Well, if that's the case, then this new production must be the perfect showcase for this opera. It has a true ensemble cast, made up of the Met's finest Mozarteans. Although the sets are stark, consisting of huge sliding brick walls and staircases, they move quickly, making for effective and fast scene changes (in what is already a very long night at the opera.) They certainly work better than the Zeffirelli mess that they replaced. But, this production is all about the singers and they are: Thomas Hampson (as an older, but crueler Don Juan,) Anja Harteros, Christine Goerke, and Hei-Kyung Hong (as his "donnas,") Rene Pape (a wonderful Leporello,) and Gregory Turay (as Don Ottavio.) It may be a cliche, but this is a true ensemble working together to tell the story of the slime-ball Don Juan, his conquests, and his downfall. The voices are superb, and the orchestra under Maestro James Levine, supports them beautifully. A perfect, although long, performance in every way.

(5-Stars)

OPERA REVIEW- "TOSCA" (Boston Lyric Opera)

Because I took a young friend to see this opera, and it was his first opera, I tried to look at it through his eyes, and see and hear what HE was seeing and hearing. What I saw was a fairly pedestrian, provincial version of a "can't-fail" opera. The three main singers had weak voices that couldn't rise above the orchestra, especially in the key dramatic moments. The soprano...a large black woman...was unbelievable in the role of a glamorous, Italian opera singer. She was hammy, inelegant, and her butt was bigger than her voice. The tenor, whose biography says that he's a "decorated officer for the Miami-Dade Police Department," shouldn't quit his day job! The baritone was OK, but in the key "Te Deum" scene, he couldn't be heard above the big chorus on stage. So that leaves the sets and the orchestra. The first act set, with its ornate marble floor and scaffolding, could pass easily for the Church of Sant' Andrea della Valle. But the same set, with some additions and subtractions served as Scarpia's apartments in the Farnese Palace, and that damn same decorated marble floor was completely inappropriate on the stone roof of the Castel Sant' Angelo! What to say about the orchestra, which was being conducted by our Boston Pops conductor, Keith Lockhart, who was conducting his first staged opera in Boston. Let's just say that I've heard worse conducting from the Lyric Opera's own Stephen Lord. Although he moved the proceedings along, like a good traffic cop, at times he slowed down so much, to make it easier for the tenor and soprano to sing two of their showcase arias, that I thought that some members of the orchestra could have gone out into the alley for a smoke! So what did my friend think? He said that he enjoyed the performance very much, although he would have liked to have seen a more attractive Floria Tosca. So would I!

(2 1/2-Stars)