Friedrich Nietzsche once called Richard Wagner a clever rattlesnake for his ability to manipulate feeling through sound. It wasn’t a compliment. Since Pythagoras, we’ve known that music has the ability to affect us in unpredictable and untraceable ways, for better… Continue Reading
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra concludes its season with a trombone concerto by composer Dorothy Gates. After chatting with Dorothy and the trombonist, Thomas Hultén, I’m convinced it’s not going to be your average concerto. Read my preview at Houstonia Magazine.
Promising lush music, a wicked plot, and fabulous costumes, the great American composer’s world premiere opens at Houston Grand Opera on Saturday. Read my preview at Houstonia Mag.
Read my preview at the Houston Chronicle. Update: And you can read Theodore Bale’s astute review as well, also at the Houston Chronicle.
The world premiere of Robert Ashley’s opera-novel Quicksand makes it even more difficult to define his body of work. Zachary Woolfe (who reviewed it for the NYT) insists that Quicksand is categorically “opera,” but he’s responding to the many people who insist that… Continue Reading
I readily admit I was a big fan of the Little Mermaid when I was young–not just the Disney film but the darker, unhappier fairytale versions too. Houston Grand Opera’s Rusalka brought the fairytale happily into my adulthood on Friday. Saturday… Continue Reading
…read my review at Bachtrack.
Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars Underground presents Striking 12, a rock-pop musical touting the catch title of an “un-holiday holiday show.” Read my preview at Houstonia Magazine.
It was a quite a sweet holiday opera, minus a Rose. Read my review at Bachtrack.
…should be magical. Read my preview at Houstonia here .