Opera - my/maSCENA

Browsing: Opera

The company of Heartbeat Opera's VANESSA; photo by Maria Baranova

Review | Heartbeat Opera’s Vanessa – They Also Suffer Who Sit and Wait

By Charles Geyer on 22 May 2026 Art Song, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Opera, Vocal

Review of VANESSA, by Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti; presented by Heartbeat Opera at the Baruch College Performing Arts Center, New York City; viewed May 16, 2026; further performances are scheduled through May 31, 2026. Heartbeat Opera, the innovative and protean company that’s been mounting striking productions since 2014, has crafted a beautifully performed and arrestingly staged condensation of Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1958 English-language opera, Vanessa. By turns passionate, spooky, enigmatic and thrilling, the gothic-inflected story centers on the title character, a middle-aged aristocrat living in a provincial enclave “in a northern country,” who,…

Sabine Devieilhe (Lucie Ashton) & Sahy Ratia (Lord Arthur Bucklaw) in in Opéra-Comique's Lucie de Lammermoor, 2026. Photo: Herwig Prammer

Review | A French Lucie de Lammermoor Triumphs at Opéra Comique

By Denise Wendel-Poray on 11 May 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Vocal

With Opéra-Comique’s new production of Lucie de Lammermoor—the little-known French version of Donizetti’s most famous work—a rarity has returned to the Parisian stage not as a mere curiosity piece, but as a living and surprisingly potent work of theatre. In reviving the original adaptation created for Paris in 1839—premiered not at the Opéra-Comique itself but at the Théâtre de la Renaissance—the Salle Favart-based company offers more than a linguistic variant of the familiar Lucia di Lammermoor: this Lucie reveals a different dramatic metabolism altogether—leaner, colder, psychologically more exposed. Under Speranza Scappucci’s superb musical direction and with a cast led by…

Arturo Chacón-Cruz, & Rihab Chaieb. Opéra de Montréal, Carmen. Crédit photo: Vivien Gaumand et l’Opéra de Montréal

Review | Opéra de Montréal’s Carmen Features Strong Singing

By Wah Keung Chan on 9 May 2026 Concert Reviews, Montreal, Opera, This Week in Montreal

With high anticipation, Montrealers have been waiting for years to hear Montreal native, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb portray Carmen in a full production of Bizet’s best known opera. Opéra de Montréal’s current run of Carmen showcases Chaieb and features a strong cast of Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Indigenous Mexican-American baritone Ethan Vincent and Canadian soprano Magali Simard-Galdès. What you missed As La Scena Musicale previously reported in 2019 and in our November 2020 cover story, Tunisian-Canadian Rihab Chaieb has the vocal fire, intelligence and bewitching charm to encapsulate the role. The Carmen we saw on Thursday, May 7, 2026 at Salle…

Victoria Karkacheva (Charlotte) and Russell Thomas (Werther) in the Canadian Opera Company’s Werther, 2026. Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | Radical Trad Werther at the COC

By Gianmarco Segato on 8 May 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

It’s been 34 years since the Canadian Opera Company last presented Massenet’s Werther. While perhaps not in the top 10 of most–produced operas, it isn’t so much on the fringes to merit being out of the company’s repertoire for so long. A new production directed by Alain Gauthier opened on May 7, and immediately distinguished itself from the company’s other recent confused, ‘radical’ rethinkings of French 19th-century masterpieces, Faust and Roméo et Juliette. As the director states in his program notes, one can take a different path that is contrary to today’s penchant to modernize settings to make works more…

Rihab Chaieb. Photo: Gaetz Photography; Arturo Chacón-Cruz. Photo: Lena Kern

Video | Behind the Scenes at Opéra de Montréal’s Carmen

By La Scena Musicale Team on 30 April 2026 Interviews, Montreal, Opera, This Week in Montreal, Video of the day

La Scena Musicale’s Adrian Rodriguez and Justin Bernard dropped in on a rehearsal for Opéra de Montréal’s production of Carmen. Opening this Saturday, May 2, 2026, watch the following video for insights from Rihab Chaieb (Carmen) and Arturo Chacón-Cruz (Don José). https://youtu.be/ZCS7KwIyx9Q Opéra de Montréal presents Georges Bizet’s Carmen from May 2-12.

Christian Van Horn (Bluebeard) & Karen Cargill (Judith) in COC’s Bluebeard’s Castle, 2026. Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | The Women Who Knew Too Much: Lepage’s Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung returns to COC

By Michelle Assay on 28 April 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

On the opening night of the Canadian Opera Company’s pairing of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s Erwartung, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts proved as impenetrable as the eponymous Duke’s fortress. Heightened security, introduced after threats during the visit of the controversial Shen Yun Performing Arts, produced queues more suited to a stadium than to an evening of symbolist-expressionist opera. It was an oddly literal prelude. Before anyone set foot inside Bluebeard’s domain, entry had already become conditional. Robert Lepage’s double bill has long been one of the company’s safest bets. First seen in 1993 at the instigation…

Photo: Vancouver Opera

Newswire | Vancouver Opera’s La Bohème Set to Shatter Box Office Records

By Newswire on 24 April 2026 Newswire, Opera, Vancouver, Vocal, West

APRIL 24, 2026, VANCOUVER, B.C./ Traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations – Vancouver Opera proudly announces that its 2025-2026 season-closing production of Puccini’s La Bohème is tracking to become the highest-grossing opera in the company’s illustrious 66-year history, surpassing the record formerly held by the 2023-2024 season production of Carmen. One of opera’s most cherished and widely-popular works, La Bohème’s passion, heartbreak, and soaring melodies will close the season on an unforgettable high note, both artistically and at the box office. With this blockbuster season finale, Vancouver Opera reaffirms its commitment to delivering exceptional, grand-scale opera experiences to diverse audiences. Tom Wright, General Director…

Newswire | Ottawa Chamberfest Announces 2026 Summer Festival

By Newswire on 23 April 2026 Baroque and Early, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Dance, Multimedia, Newswire, Opera, Ottawa, Theatre

Ottawa, ON – Ottawa Chamberfest announces its 2026 Summer Festival, running July 23 to August 2, featuring a wide-ranging program of international and Canadian artists, bold new music, major chamber collaborations, and free community events across 11 days in the Nation’s Capital. Set against Ottawa’s bicentennial year, the 2026 edition reflects a city celebrating 200 years of history, growth, and cultural expression. At its core, the festival invites audiences to step away from the everyday and experience music as it happens: live, shared, and authentic. Chamberfest’s wide-ranging lineup of international and Canadian artists presents programs that span from baroque opera…

Madeline Cooper (Ciboletta) & Marcus Tranquilli (Pappacoda) in Toronto Operetta Theatre's A Night in Venice. Photo: Gary Beechey (BDS Studios)

Review | Comic Carnevale in Toronto Operetta Theatre’s A Night in Venice

By Gianmarco Segato on 21 April 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

Toronto Operetta Theatre closed their season with Johann Strauss’s 1883 operetta A Night in Venice. Set in Venice during carnival season, it revolves around plot devices that might be considered questionable today. These include a nobleman’s ‘right’ to deflower young women, and what must have been some hilarious cross-dressing at the time…all handled with taste and not too much unnecessary fanfare here. A young cast seized their roles for all they were worth, resulting in a fun afternoon (seen Apr. 19) of light entertainment—not a small thing given the current state of the world. As with many operettas, the story…

Philippe Sly (Arkel) with artists of Atelier Ballet in Opera Atelier's Pelléas et Mélisande. Photo: Bruce Zinger

Review | Drama Shines Through Baroque Intrusions in Opera Atelier’s Pelléas et Mélisande

By Gianmarco Segato on 20 April 2026 Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

It’s no secret that Opera Atelier has wanted to present Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande for many decades, and finally, the results were unveiled last week at Toronto’s Koerner Hall to close the company’s spring season (seen Apr. 18). A “period” Pelléas is an intriguing prospect and in many ways, this was one of the group’s more memorable productions in recent seasons. Extremely strong casting and high musical values proved that Opera Atelier really should be producing operas outside their usual baroque/classical wheelhouse on a more regular basis. The inclusion of some of the company’s more typical “period” elements, however, threatened…

Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 114 Next

Current Issue

PDF HTML

Next Issue : September

Ad Deadline : Aug. 28, 2026

Past Issues, Subscriptions, Advertising