Performing Arts

NEW YORK—Imagine your most memorable moments captured in a painting. The scene could be of time spent at leisure, without a goal in sight, talking with friends outdoors in mild weather. The conversation is lively, sometimes heated, but there’s no finger-pointing whatsoever. You challenge each other to think in ways you had not anticipated before […]

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) may have lived in obscurity, but her poems have inspired a number of classical composers. “A Certain Slant of Light” (on Pentatone) is soprano Lisa Delan’s recording of Emily Dickinson’s poems as set by four composers, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille conducted by Lawrence Foster. Aaron Copland (1900–1990) originally wrote a […]

NEW YORK—When re-reviewing a show after the original leads have left, one must ask how the new cast members fit into the already existing scheme of the piece and how well the production works with these new additions. In the case of the Broadway revival of the 1964 musical “Hello, Dolly!” the answer is brilliantly! […]

The new release “Winter Journey” from Signum Classics follows from the performances at the Ryedale Festival and Wigmore Hall of Jeremy Sams‘s translation of Franz Schubert’s three great song cycles. Here, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Christopher Glynn perform. I have interviewed a number of singers, including baritone Benjamin Appl, who have talked about the challenge of getting the audience to […]

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—”Long Day’s Journey Into Night” is considered by many to be one of Eugene O’Neill’s finest plays, if not the finest. This production of the play, transplanted from the Bristol Old Vic in Britain, has weathered crossing the “pond” to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). It is certainly O’Neill’s most autobiographical work, for […]

NEW YORK—Surviving a near-death experience is one thing. Coming through it unscathed is something else. Kieran Knowles’s harrowing drama “Operation Crucible,” based on actual events, takes the audience underneath a massive pile of rubble to meet four men who were trapped for more than 12 hours in the basement of the Marples Hotel in Sheffield, […]

During the 1950s, jazz impresario Norman Granz had three of the greatest jazz figures on his Verve Label: Oscar Peterson (1925–2007), Louis Armstrong (1901–1971) and Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), and he recorded them separately and, on occasion, together. Now, Verve/Ume has released on CD three invaluable box sets. ‘Pops Is Tops’ “Pops Is Tops: The Verve […]

MOUNT HOPE, N.Y.—There is more to classical Chinese dance than meets the eye. Behind each movement is a system of values deeply rooted in culture and traditions, pulled from history by the artists through countless hours of study and practice. According to Piotr Huang, one of the principal dancers performing in practicum with the New […]

The essence of O’Neill story can still be seen in director George C. Wolfe’s production of “The Iceman Cometh,” but too many elements simply don't ring true.

NEW YORK—Jules Massenet’s 1899 fairy tale opera “Cendrillon” (Cinderella) finally arrived at the Metropolitan Opera. It was clearly ladies’ night on stage with the glorious mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in the title role and mostly other divas, including another mezzo, Alice Coote, as Prince Charming. The Plot “Cendrillon” has a libretto by Henri Cain that is […]

NEW YORK—Produced by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, “Daybreak,” in its world premiere by playwright Joyce Van Dyke, has managed to merge material on a major horrific political occurrence—the Armenian Genocide of 1915—with material on her own family. Often called the first genocide of the 20th century, this was a systematic murder and deportation of Armenians […]

NEW YORK—Alan Ayckbourn’s comedic drama “A Brief History of Women” has a misnomer for its title. Something more accurate would be “One Man’s Experience with Women Through the Decades,” or “The Life of an Unassuming and Relatively Insignificant Fellow.” Part of the Brits Off-Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theaters, the play examines key events in the […]

NEW YORK—Never wager more than what you can afford to lose is a credo of professional gamblers everywhere, and it’s the ultimate message in Conor McPherson’s ominous drama “The Seafarer.” The production at the Irish Repertory Theatre is the show’s first major New York revival since its 2007 Broadway debut. It’s Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, […]

NEW YORK—In Act 2, scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the heroine famously asks, “Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” The Metropolitan Opera may have been asking the same question with respect its current production of Charles Gounod’s opera “Roméo et Juliette.” Originally, Bryan Hymel was scheduled to sing the male lead. However, he […]

At her trial for adultery and treason against her husband, the king, Anne Boleyn spoke calmly—her speech was neither accusatory nor defamatory. Her words were surprisingly introspective. The disgraced queen reflected on her own faults. She had shown a lack of humility toward a kind husband and expressed jealousy toward him. But, she added, those […]

NEW YORK—Suppose you go for a walk to discuss a certain matter with four people on several occasions, 15 to be exact. As you walk together on the same trail, toward the same destination, you stay on topic every time. Each one of you carries equal weight in the matter, while holding different opinions. All […]

NEW YORK—Opera News, started by the Metropolitan Opera Guild in 1936, has the largest circulation of any classical music magazine in the United States. The black tie-award dinner for distinguished achievement in opera is an annual event looked forward to by music lovers. The 13th annual award presentation was held at the Grand Ballroom of […]

NEW YORK—Light enough to blow away yet filled with a plot so wonderfully convoluted that I dare you to keep up with it, David Ives’s “The Metromaniacs” contains numerous cases of mistaken identity (I stopped counting at seven), false assumptions, and important lessons about life in general. Ives’s “translaptation” (his word), presented by Red Bull […]

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—London’s Royal Shakespeare Company has brought to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) its fine production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” The role of Lear is considered to be the Mount Everest for older actors, and here, Antony Sher scales its heights. It is a thoughtful, intelligent portrayal, and remarkably clear. In fact, the entire […]

Reverend Jonathan Arnold, dean of divinity at Magdalen College, Oxford, has written about the “seeming paradox that, in today’s so-called secular society, sacred choral music is as powerful, compelling, and popular as it has ever been.” But is this a paradox? Arguably, the power of this music derives from having been written by supremely talented, well-trained composers […]