Choosing unusual repertoire is something that many listeners and critics desperately want the performing organizations they follow to try now and again, but it sometimes comes with a price. Often, things seem to be chosen because they are particular favorites of a conductor or soloist, or perhaps something less well-known than a composer’s other, really famous work. But … [Read more...]
At the opera: In Orlando, a hit-and-miss ‘Figaro’
The Orlando Philharmonic’s production Nov. 9 of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro straddled a fine line that divides semi-staged from fully staged performances. These semi-staged productions of the Philharmonic either leave one feeling unsettled, as in this Figaro, or completely satisfied, as with last spring’s Rigoletto. It is a dilemma directors must wrestle with continually: Go … [Read more...]