| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 6-May-2012 Opéra Bastille | Rustic chivalry and clowns in Paris: Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci |
 In each case, you know the murder is coming. In each case the music is explosive and closes the opera: there is nothing left to say except Canio's simple words: "La commedia è finita." Thus ends opera's most celebrated double bill: Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, a pair of short operas that have been performed together almost exclusively since 1893, known affectionately as "Cav and Pag" to an older generation of operagoers.
Read full review... | |
| 21-Jan-2012 Civic Opera House | A tale of two princesses at the Lyric Opera of Chicago |
 in Aida, (c) Dan Rest & Lyric Opera of Chicago.jpg) In our youth, my brother and I adored Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film The Ten Commandments. Not only did we like the well-written and brilliant take on the beloved biblical story of Moses, but we were also fascinated by the lavish sets and historical aspects of the film. Ancient Egypt – a fascinating and mysterious world of artistic and academic achievement – beckoned to us, as it did to Giuseppe Verdi 140 years ago.Read full review... | |
| 22-Jan-2011 Civic Opera House | Till There Was You |
 “There was love all around / But I never heard it singing / No, I never heard it at all / Till there was you!” I vividly recall when I first heard Shirley Jones sing these touching, heartfelt lines on the beloved motion picture version of Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man”, when both the devious Professor Harold Hill and the stingy spinster Marion Paroo discover the true meaning of love.Read full review... | |
