Disappointing leads, budget sets undercut an otherwise merry Widow

"I remember the razzle-dazzle, bygone splendor, and synergy of cast and costumes of that production —— a spectacle of the haut-bourgeois. But I will not remember this production."

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December 4, 2015

Interview with Bradley Smoak, up-and-coming singer in Lyric's Wozzeck

"I think very few people these days actually go to the theatre to be moved..."

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November 9, 2015

Maroon exclusive: In conversation with Riccardo Muti

“The next time you go to a concert and see a conductor who moves more than is necessary... you have to boo”

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October 1, 2015

Lyric's Figaro marries misguided direction with poor taste

"Artless, witless, and soulless as the production was, its music provided the evening’s single success."

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October 1, 2015

Organist Nathan Laube pulls out all the stops

"The sheer intensity and dissonance of expression seemed ready to dissolve into raw violence at any second."

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April 30, 2015

Uchida's take on Mozart effortless, novel

"Listening to Uchida playing Mozart, I became convinced that this was how Mozart should be played."

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April 14, 2015

Tannhäuser unable to hit high note

“...[Botha’s] hymns of praise sounded more like a three-star rating on Yelp”

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March 10, 2015

Overzealous direction kills Tosca faster than it can kill its own protagonists

"Her vocal performance fueled further disappointment, pairing a warm middle with an upper register thirstier than a straight white boy on Tinder."

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January 27, 2015

Queen Anne Boleyn sings her head off at Chicago's Lyric Opera

"...a voluptuous fantasy on the death of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII."

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January 16, 2015

Lyric caters to dedicated opera fans with Strauss's Capriccio

"Of course, the whole shtick is an elaborate allegory for the importance of words versus music in opera. Duh."

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October 24, 2014