WASHINGTON – On Friday, March 20, the Kennedy Center announced it had canceled its entire program of “public performances and events scheduled through Sunday, May 10, 2020, in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.” In a followup release Tuesday, the KenCen announced that “performances of Once on This Island, Soundtrack ’63, and Washington National ...
Straightforward, period authentic, this latest WNO edition of La Traviata is reverently but not conventionally directed by the company’s artistic director, Francesca Zambello.
Generally fine singing encounters strange sets and novel directorial approach, resulting in an enigmatic opening night for a classic Verdi masterpiece.
Washington National Opera’s knockout performance of Puccini masterpiece closes out company’s 2016-17 season in style. Ermonela Jaho dazzles in the title role.
The Washington National Opera scores with this jazzy, punchy new boxing opera pitting unlikely pugilist Emile Griffith against opponents in and out of the ring.
New production of Jake Heggie’s and Terrence McNally’s 2000 opera at the Kennedy Center Opera House, based on Sister Jean Prejean’s book (also a movie) proves American opera is not a myth.
Nasty new one-act opera by composer Mohammed Fairouz morphs into just another tiresome #NeverTrump screed. With music.
Kennedy Center-commissioned short American operas “Lifeboat,” “Adam,” and “What Gets Kept” make their debuts at the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.
Lawrence Brownlee and Lisette Oropesa shine in Donizetti’s popular comic opera. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes an extended cameo as an ornery Duchess.
Snarled traffic, weird security, and loads of late seatings disrupt but fail to derail Washington National Opera’s charming performance of classic Mozart opera, "The Marriage of Figaro."
Incoming family fun, September 24, 2016: Free live HD simulcast of Washington National Opera’s new production of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” at Washington Nationals Park.
In a bold, largely successful move, the In Series bids for a bigger place at DC’s artistic table with a performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio" that raises the bar for “pocket opera.”
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2016 – Cycle 1 of the Washington National Opera’s long-awaited, first-ever complete Ring Cycle concluded Friday evening with a performance of “The Twilight of the Gods” (“Götterdämmerung”) that was musically brilliant but something of an anti-climax production-wise. “Twilight of the Gods” (“TOG”) was written and composed by Richard Wagner as the grand ...
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2016 – If Wednesday’s Cycle 1 debut of ‘Siegfried’ – the third of four episodes in the Washington National Opera’s first-ever complete Ring – wasn’t quite as flashy as Monday’s amazing “The Valkyrie” (“Die Walküre”), it’s mostly composer Richard Wagner’s fault. Read also: WNO’s American Ring: A vastly improved ‘Rhinegold’ debuts Writing ...
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2016 – Whether you’re an opera lover living here in the D.C. metro area or an international Wagner fan winging into the nation’s capital for an entire, week-long performance of the Washington National Opera’s (WNO’s) rejuvenated “American” Ring Cycle, you come to the Kennedy Center Opera House expecting drama, excitement, terrific music ...
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2016 – It’s here at long last, the Washington National Opera’s first-ever performance of Richard Wagner’s epic “Ring Cycle” of operas. Now unfolding at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, this home-grown “American Ring” production likely had its early origins in a memorable 2003 performance of “Die Walküre” just after the turn of ...
WASHINGTON, February 14, 2016 – For better or worse, Washington National Opera artistic director Francesca Zambello has most certainly been carrying out her promise to more prominently feature “American opera” each season at the Kennedy Center. Cases in point: the entirety of WNO’s 206 spring season slate of operas includes not only the company’s upcoming ...
WASHINGTON, January 10, 2016 – The Washington National Opera (WNO) continued with its winter tradition of staging new short operas this past weekend (January 8-9) with the world premier performances of “Better Gods” at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Penned by the composer-librettist team of Luna Pearl Woolf and Caitlin Vincent, the new opera follows ...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2015 – As with any contemporary new music series, the short opera edition of the Washington National Opera’s (WNO) American Opera Initiative can prove to be a mixed bag. That was certainly the case Wednesday during the 2015 edition of this now-annual WNO event, which is held each year around this time ...
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2015 – The Washington National Opera (WNO) has added a second performance tonight of its annual American Opera Initiative short-opera world premiere series. Attendance has been surprisingly good for this series over the past several seasons, so much so that demand for tickets this year prompted WNO’s decision to add an additional ...