A Britten Weekend – With a 17th century interlude!

Three-quarters Britten.  That was my weekend.  On Saturday I attended the afternoon performance of Britten’s opera, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at the Metropolitan Opera.  Then in the evening I attended the first concert of Columbia University’s Miller Theater Early Music Series, by Le Poeme Harmonique, a French early-music ensemble led by Vincent Dumestre, in music by Monteverdi and some contemporaries under the program title “Combattimenti!”  On Sunday, I attended two recitals, at 1 and 4, … <Read More>


A Minimalist Monteverdi Production for the 21st Century: Opera Omnia’s “The Return of Ulysses”

Last week Opera Omnia, a tiny company that is the brainchild of Baroque opera enthusiast Wesley Chinn, presented its third production in New York, Claudio Monteverdi’s “The Return of Ulysses,” at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.  I attended the final performance on Thursday, September 12.  I was particularly drawn to attend this because one of my favorite musicians, baritone Jesse Blumberg, was singing the role of Ulysses.  But I was also intrigued to see what Opera … <Read More>