ENTERTAINMENT
By Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun | January 24, 2013
For most people, the attractions of Christmas do not include the possibility of children roasting over an open fire. But that has not kept Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" from becoming a favorite opera at Christmastide. Based on a vivid tale by the Brothers Grimm and first performed Dec. 23, 1893, Humperdinck's most famous opera does, of course, feature lots of talk and images of sweets, notably gingerbread. So it's easy to make a seasonal tie-in, which is what Washington National Opera did over the weekend with a revival of its 2007 family-friendly production.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun | September 16, 2010
Verdi's "A Masked Ball" makes an appropriately grand choice for Washington National Opera's season opener. It's a big-gesture work with terrific sweep, yet one with many a subtle musical and dramatic detail. The composer was forced by government censors to turn the opera's plot about the assassination of Sweden's King Gustavus III into an unlikely scenario set in Colonial Boston. But like some other companies these days, WNO restores the original Swedish setting. Although Salvatore Licitra doesn't always use his sizable tenor gracefully, his singing as Gustavus has a certain visceral appeal.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun | May 15, 2010
Although a substantial success for several decades after its 1868 premiere, the grand opera version of "Hamlet" by Ambroise Thomas fell into neglect, even in the composer's home country of France. To paraphrase one of Hamlet's lines from the Shakespeare original: How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seemed all the uses of this opera. But recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Thomas' "Hamlet" on both sides of the Atlantic. A couple of months ago, the piece returned to the stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera after an absence of 113 years.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Mary Carole McCauley | mary.mccauley@baltsun.com and Baltimore Sun reporter | March 25, 2010
There was romance among the rutabagas yesterday at the downtown Whole Foods Market, passion among the persimmons. Jesus Daniel Hernandez was stationed in one corner of the produce section in the Harbor East store at 1010 Fleet St., wearing the black apron used to designate employees of the grocery chain. He hefted a ripe avocado in his palm, and wistfully eyed lissome Jennifer Waters as she stood by the oranges. Waters rubbed her thumb meditatively over one of the sunny globes, then flicked her eyes quickly in Hernandez's direction.
ENTERTAINMENT
By Mary Carole McCauley | mary.mccauley@baltsun.com and Baltimore Sun reporter | March 24, 2010
There was romance among the rutabagas this afternoon in the Whole Foods grocery store, passion among the persimmons. Five singers from the Washington Opera's young artists program took to the aisles of the Harbor East market at 1001 Fleet St., disguised in the black aprons and black caps normally worn by employees of the market. A few minutes after 1 p.m., an announcement came over the store loudspeaker announcing that tickets to this weekend's Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert were being given away in the produce section.
FEATURES
By Tim Smith and Tim Smith,tim.smith@baltsun.com | October 13, 2009
Verdi's "Falstaff," the astonishing product of a 79-year-old-composer, is getting a freshly conceptualized treatment from Washington National Opera. Some of the bare-bones physical material comes from a co-production with the Royal Opera and other opera companies, but director Christian R?th has devised something new out of it for this run of performances at the Kennedy Center, the WNO's first "Falstaff" in more than 25 years. Given the last moments of the work, with its hearty, "the whole world is a jest" message, it's easy to see where R?