Season Closes with 1st Performances of Jennifer Higdon & Jerre Dye’s Take on a Real-life Art Heist, with three Alternate Endings By GEORGE B. PAROUS Saturday evening, the crowd that filled Pittsburgh Opera’s Bitz Studio in the Strip heard the… Read More ›
Todd Nonn
Pittsburgh Opera’s “The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson”
Dramady with Operatic Interludes Opens at the Byham By George B. Parous The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, as is widely known by now, is a play rather than an opera. There certainly is piano-accompanied singing, but about two thirds… Read More ›
Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘La Traviata’ Another Win For the Company
Singers, Orchestra, Chorus and Staging as Good as It Gets By GEORGE B. PAROUS It was a grand and large audience that heard and saw a spectacular performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata last evening at the Benedum. The time-worn… Read More ›
Review: Pittsburgh Opera Adds ‘Proving Up’ to its List of Season’s Successes
By GEORGE B. PAROUS Last evening Pittsburgh Opera continued their season with the first night of Missy Mazzoli’s chamber opera, Proving Up. With a libretto by Royce Vavrek, adapted from a short story by Karen Russell, the 2018 opera has… Read More ›
‘The Barber of Seville’ a Bright 85th Season Opener
Pittsburgh Opera Offers a Vivacious Production of Old Classic By GEORGE B. PAROUS Despite miserable weather and having a star baritone on the sick list, Pittsburgh Opera attracted a good-sized audience to a brilliant performance of The Barber of Seville… Read More ›
‘We Shall Not Be Moved,’ Pittsburgh Opera’s Season Finale, A Decided Winner
Entire Cast & Bulk of Production Crew in Pittsburgh Opera Debuts, Deliver Powerful Drama Set to Riveting Music By George B. Parous First things first – try to get tickets to Pittsburgh Opera’s We Shall Not Be Moved while they’re… Read More ›
Review: Pittsburgh Opera Brings Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ Back to Life
Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Il Trovatore, music by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, continues at the Benedum Center March 28, 31 and April 2. (Images: David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera) Melodious Old Standard Wows Big Audience for the… Read More ›
Review: Pittsburgh Opera Presents “Blue”
Riveting Social Justice Opera Packs a Wallop By George B. Parous Pittsburgh Opera is ending its 2021-’22 season with performances of Blue, and the work received its local premiere Saturday night, April 23, at the August Wilson African American… Read More ›
“Semele” at Pittsburgh Opera a Colorful Close to Company’s Commendable Season
Pittsburgh Opera is wrapping its season with an innovative spin on Handel’s Semele, a company first in more ways than one. The work, variously described as a musical drama, “after the manner of an oratorio,” and eventually an opera, was… Read More ›
