Like it or not, the cutting edge of European set and stage design came hurtling into Palm Beach Opera for its production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Stefano Poda’s creation arrived simultaneously with a cold blast of fresh air. It is visually stimulating and wholly original. The company took a chance on hiring this gifted young Italian director, 39, whose splendid costumes … [Read more...]
PB Opera’s bold, radical ‘Giovanni’ stumbles without statue
s Chekhov’s rule in theater was this: If you’ve got a gun on stage, you’re going to have to fire it at some point. By the same token, if you promise people a monster, you’re going to have to show it. But the Palm Beach Opera’s new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which opened Friday night at the Kravis Center, dispenses with the climactic theatrical device of the opera … [Read more...]
PB Symphony to play score during ‘Potemkin’ showing
Ramón Tebar has worked with demanding sopranos, played as a soloist and chamber musician, and conducted orchestras in symphony, ballet and opera. But for the 30-year-old Spanish conductor, directing an orchestra as the accompaniment to a soundtrack is the hardest thing he's ever done. "The main reason is that, as a conductor, I don't have the freedom and flexibility that … [Read more...]
PB Opera’s Beethoven sometimes messy, but packs a wallop
Seeing the gigantic forces arrayed on the stage of the Kravis Center, one couldn't help wondering whether the audience was about to hear a performance of the Mahler Eighth Symphony. But all those people were there Friday night for Beethoven's Ninth, which was the season opener this year for the Palm Beach Opera, in lieu of a fourth staged production. With no less than four … [Read more...]
At Bard SummerScape, a stunning ‘Les Huguenots’
Every summer for the past 20 years, the private liberal arts school of Bard College, two hours north of New York City near Annandale-on-Hudson, has taken it upon itself to perform operas, choral works, dance and drama, many of them offbeat or seldom performed. This year's SummerScape festival saw a complete, 4 ½-hour production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Les … [Read more...]