News & Reviews

Opera review: ‘Falstaff’ BY ROY PROCTOR Special correspondent A sound rule of operatic thumb: A director may take all sorts of liberties with the time and place of a time-honored opera, provided he knows what he’s doing and can get away with it. Director Stephen...

Virginia Opera’s ‘Falstaff’ has everything necessary for great opera buffa By Joan Reinthaler, Published: October 13 It may be that, at least for opera buffa, all you need to put on a great show is a first-rate lead, a good conductor and orchestra, and, above all, a...

By Lee Teply Virginian-Pilot correspondent ©November 9, 2013 The Virginia Opera’s new production of one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masterpieces, “The Magic Flute,” opened Friday evening at the Harrison Opera House. The opera is a mix of serious and comic elements,...

The Virginian-Pilot: Va. Opera's "Magic Flute" relies on mastery of emotion By Teresa Annas The Virginian-Pilot ©November 7, 2013 Poor Papageno. He catches birds and sells them for a living, is rough-hewn and earthy, and has fallen for a girl who flew the coop. He...

The Virginia Opera opened its rousing, energetic spring production of Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s classic musical “Carousel” last weekend at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House. Running through May 19, the current performances, presented in conjunction with the 2013...

A few days before New Yorker Greg Ganakas headed to Norfolk to direct the classic musical "Carousel," he visited a carousel in Central Park, just to remember what it's like. "It reminded me of when I was a child and when I first stepped onto it, and how fast it went,"...

Matthew Worth has tackled some demanding roles in his operatic career, including the philandering "Don Giovanni" at Virginia Opera and Father Flynn in Minnesota Opera's world premiere of "Doubt." This month he returns to the Virginia Opera stage in a classic of...

Carousel barker Billy Bigelow loves Julie Jordan, but can never seem to do right by her. After tragedy strikes, Billy must answer for his behavior, but can a selfish man find it in his heart to be selfless? Carousel’s timeless themes of love and redemption are...

One of the greatest operas ever written, The Marriage of Figaro is a witty, yet profound tale of love, revenge and forgiveness. Figaro, valet to Count Almaviva, and Susanna, maid to the Countess, are set to be married…but the Count has his own designs on Susanna’s...

In this famous tale of lust and disgrace, the newly impoverished Blanche Dubois arrives in 1940’s New Orleans to live with her sister and brother-in-law in their shabby apartment. As the weeks press on, dark truths about Blanche’s past collide with the stark reality...