by Roseann Cane Today one of the most frequently performed operas in the world, La Bohème premiered in 1896 in Turin, conducted by the 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini. Set in Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1830s, it focuses on four young, impoverished bohemian artists, Marcello, a painter (baritone Benjamin Taylor);…
The “innovative, clever and thoroughly professional” (Bachtrack) Berkshire Opera Festival continues its 2023 summer season with a mainstage production of La Bohème on August 26, August 29, and September 1 at The Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, MA. One of the most beloved operatic love stories of all time, La Bohème is based on Henri Murger’s 1851 novel, Scènes de la vie de…
Berkshire Opera Festival opens its 2023 summer season with Breaking the Mold: Baroque, Bel Canto, and Beyond, a concert of arias and ensembles spanning 300 years, on July 22 at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. The program traverses a vast range of musical eras and styles, from Handel to Heggie. The afternoon’s selections are sung by strong characters who each…
Berkshire Opera Festival presents:TO PARIS WITH LOVE – Opera in the City of Light Sunday, April 16 at 2 pm Saint James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington, Massachusetts Paris has inspired more artists to loftier heights of creativity than perhaps any other city. From Puccini to Massenet to Strauss,…
Opera Saratoga is pleased to announce their 2023 summer season: Don Pasquale, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and The Selfish Giant – all to be performed at Universal Preservation Hall, 25 Washington Street in Saratoga Springs, NY. Tickets will be available for Subscribers in January 2023. Single Tickets…
by Barbara Waldinger In the age of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, how is a director embarking on a production of one of the many versions of the Don Juan story to approach the lasciviousness of the main character? Beginning in the Middle Ages, across multiple genres and cultures…
On August 20, 23, and 26, Berkshire Opera Festival‘s 2022 season culminates with the summer’s most ambitious undertaking: a new staging by BOF co-founder Jonathon Loy of Mozart’s comedy-tragedy masterpiece DON GIOVANNI at the historic, intimate Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. BOF Artistic Director and co-founder Brian Garman, called a “wizard” with complex scores by Bachtrack, conducts the Berkshire Opera…
“In the best of times, opera companies struggle for survival. In the worst of times,they perish. Which is why it seems miraculous that Berkshire Opera Festival is still with us. Their return to live performance has made it clear that BOF is going to be a major presence in the…
