…they infused each beat with well-sensed feeling that poured over into the next, maintaining unflagging momentum from the tight and lively overture, here with a proto-Beethoven quality in the dynamics and attack, to the very end.

“A seasoned Scarpia, with eighty-four Met performances of Tosca to his credit, [James] Morris sounded in excellent form, and his fine bass-baritone made ‘Va, Tosca’ the most frightening moment of the evening….the most notable performance…was the thrilling Tosca of Alexandra LoBianco….The artists were directed to brilliant effect by artistic director Dona D. Vaughn, who made actors of all her musicians even in the little moments.”

Opera Maine makes wise choices with ‘The Magic Flute’
A new production for the 25-year-old company, the opera was well cast and appropriately adjusted for modern times.

The Young Artists Program, which opened its six-performance series Friday night at USM’s Hannaford Auditorium, is a double-bill of vocal virtuosity by Mozart and Donizetti, well costumed and professionally sung by some already accomplished young artists.

“… a superb job top to bottom; the audience, knowing it had witnessed something extraordinary, stood in salute.”

For anyone who believes that opera is at its best when it takes on important, if often uncomfortable social and historical issues – rather than, say, the woes of a thwarted romance between a rich kid and a courtesan – this year’s presentation of Jack Perla‘s “An American Dream” is a must-see production.

Stephen Lord’s conducting of his responsive orchestra and singers was exemplary, from the haunting intimations of the prelude to the dramatic force of the powerful closing chorus of Act II.