The Passion of Opera

First, I apologize for the long hiatus in posts. I have not had much opportunity to see live opera since being back at Lawrence University in Wisconsin and in Arlington, Virginia. The conclusion of my schooling did offer a few of the previous scholarly posts. Now, however, being in Washington, D.C., more actual reviews will be forthcoming. I will be seeing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis  this weekend and will post on that shortly, as well. In the meantime, a review of Washington National Opera's  La boh è me at the Kennedy Center. This was my first time at the Kennedy Center opera house and I was surprised how small it is. All in all, that's really not a bad thing, just surprising for such a key performing space in the United States. I will write my own review, but Anne Midgette's November 2 review in the Washington Post  was spot on, so I've included a link here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/at-wno-a-la-boheme-that-gets-the-job-done/2014/11/...

It's not opera but here's a description of a concert I had the opportunity to attend in Vienna's Haus der Musik, a museum of music history and instruments. The concert was part of a free summer series. The concert focused on the life and work of Franz Liszt, played by a violinist and a pianist. The violinist explained that when he first set out to do this project and considered Liszt's life, he was struck by the fact that at the height of his popularity and ability, Liszt decided to retire from stage performance. He therefore lectured us through Liszt's life as he played. He began with  Un sospire  but gave it little introduction. Afterward, he discussed Liszt's childhood: Liszt outpacing his teacher, his father's attempts to woo Beethoven into assistance, his move to France, his status as a "wunderkind," etc. For comparison, he played a Mozart piece as an example of what Parisian audiences would have been "used to." He proceeded  to de...