Month: May 2026

Washington Concert Opera’s (WCO) inaugural performance was Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles in 1987 at Lisner Auditorium, a venue dating from 1946 on the campus of George Washington University. The seats are uncomfortable, there’s almost no leg room, and the tiny restroom facilities are inadequate for a theater seating 1,350.…

Folks who forget to mark-up their calendars at the beginning of every year (hand raised) may have been reminded by the Atlanta Opera’s social media algorithm that 2026 marks the 100-year anniversary of the premiere of Puccini’s Turandot. Mingled with similar AI manufactured Turandot hype (Nissan Dorma, anyone), folks may have also seen more sobering reels devoted to the financial crisis befalling the American operatic scene.…

Seeking respite from the swampy conditions battering the southeast in late April, Viardot-vs-Grisi traveled west, Albuquerque to be specific, home of Opera Southwest which closed its 2025-26 season last weekend with performances of Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto. While accusations of my being late in getting on the Opera Southwest train are warranted (35 seasons behind, to be exact), this first visit is the culmination of previous overtures thwarted by scheduling conflicts and the strangest of circumstances.…