Patrick Carfizzi News

September marks two years since Opera Philadelphia's orchestra, chorus, staff, and principal singers have gathered at the historic Academy of Music to produce opera. As the company works to bring live opera back to its longtime home, it continues to bring the art form into fans' homes by producing new operatic films and revisiting favorite productions streamed on the Opera Philadelphia Channel.

There are a number of parallels between the two operas I saw in Santa Fe (NM) this past weekend: The Benjamin Britten/Peter Pears treatment of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and the world premiere of the John Corigliano/Mark Adamo THE LORD OF CRIES. The first was, for me at least, an all-around, marvelous success, while the other was a disappointment.

The singing in this performance made it one of the best Figaros I’ve seen in many years. Despite singing recitative, vocal runs, and high notes with silvery tones for three and a half hours, Ying Fang as Susanna never sounded the least bit tired. Her character was a 20th century woman with dreams of equality. At the behest of conductor Harry Bicket, she and all the other leading artists decorated the repeats in their arias.

The San Diego Opera continued its quixotic foray into parking-lot adventures with The Barber of Seville by Rossini, social distancing once again forcing substantial changes to a production's length and cast size. Revisions to libretto, costumes, set and lighting went all out for a zany farcical effect that even many staid opera lovers of a certain age would eventually realize harkened back to the free-wheeling spirit of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, complete with 'Sock it to me,' chicken jokes and Rowan's trademark closing 'Say goodnight, Dick.' This always said to his seemingly clueless partner Dick Martin. Lest you think it was a radically revised libretto, I offer assurances that most of the explicit references to the bygone TV show were displayed in hand-drawn lettering on cardboard placards held up by a man near the stage whose humble garb included a Santa Clause hat. This seemingly homeless but cheerful gentleman was teamed offstage with a gaggle of other extras. Some of them were chorus members, policemen and musicians usually on stage for Rossini's comic opera, but now, during difficult times, especially for opera directors and stage managers, they were singing, dancing and gesticulating wildly offstage, one of them mounted on a pickup truck.

Broadway might be dark, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway this weekend, March 13-14, 2021.

The Met has announced themed lineups for two weeks of its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on the company's website during the coronavirus closure. 

Inspired by the success from their safe drive-in performances of La bohème in the Fall, which heralded the return of live, in-person, opera to San Diego County since the start of the pandemic, and provided over 300 jobs to many, San Diego Opera has announced a Spring season of safe, socially-distanced, drive-in performances.

Available to season ticket holders from November 13–December 4, 2020 , Recorded on the McCaw Hall stage

As Songs of Summer, a free, 15-performance recital series concludes this week, Seattle Opera unveils its Fall Season. With a variety of free performances and programming to enjoy at home, the Fall Season was created with both artistic innovation-and public safety-in mind, said General Director Christina Scheppelmann.

This Weekend (August 15-16) in live streaming: Stephanie J. Block sings with Seth Rudetsky, Carrie reunites on Stars in the House, and so much more!

The Met has announced the Week 22 schedule for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure.

San Diego Opera has announced its 2020-2021 season, after the premature ending of the Company's previous season this winter in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Saturday afternoon saw the return of Berlioz's DAMNATION OF FAUST to the Met, not seen there since 2009. Because of logistical considerations it was mounted in concert form on the stage rather than in Robert Lepage's previous staging. The concert style proved to be an extremely effective format for what Berlioz called a 'legende dramatique', a work that did not neatly fit into either the opera or oratorio category.

Perhaps as composer Gioachino Rossini believed, at certain times, life might resemble a comic opera. For opera aficionados in the Twin Cities area, MN Opera at the Ordway Center presents a beloved classic by Rossini--The Barber of Seville. In this story about a rapscallion, yet well to do  barber named Figaro created by the 18th century playwright known as Beaumarchais, Rossini added a compelling score to Beaumarchais' play to complement Cesare Sterbini's libretto that brings Figaro to operatic life. The fun loving, well loved barber in Seville features into several popular operas to become some of Rossini's favorites  MN Opera transforms the already comic opera into a tour de force production by combining extraordinary singing with a sublime cartoon framework in the tradition of the commedia dell'arte, where masks used by the actors often underscore the action.

Kansas City Lyric Opera's 2018-2019 season continues with a production of Mozart's comic opera.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 2018-2019 season with Mozart's sophisticated comedy Cosi fan tutte March 16, 20, 22 and 24 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. 

Wolfgang Koch has withdrawn from the Metropolitan Opera's fall performances of Puccini's Tosca, due to illness. Željko Lu?i? will now sing the role of Scarpia in the season premiere performance on October 25, and Claudio Sgura will sing the remaining six performances of the fall run.  Mr. Koch's Met debut will be delayed until March, when Tosca returns to the repertory for a spring run.

Metropolitan Maestro Carlo Rizzi's 2018-19 season includes Tosca and Mefistofele at the Met, Falstaff in Tokyo, a new production of Un ballo in maschera at Welsh National Opera and symphonic concerts in Japan, Italy and Spain

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature ANNIE, TITANIC, PIPPIN and More!

Daniela Mack is Isabella, an Italian pilot, who makes an emergency landing in Algiers and is captured by its ruler, the Bey. He wants an Italian girl for a wife but she loves Lindoro, the Bey's Italian slave. L'ITALIANA has lots of good bel canto singing and plenty of comedy to keep you smiling all evening. There are three more performances, Aug 3, 9 and 17.