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José Carreras, 66, Returning to Opera in Christian Kolonovits' 'El Juez' at Bilbao

He was never exactly in the vanguard of new writing, but the news of José Carreras' return to opera with a new work--'El Juez' by Christian Kolonovits, after a story by Angelika Messner--is doubly surprising. Most surprising, perhaps, because most of us thought we'd seen the Spaniard's last complete role on an operatic stage. At 66, alas, Italianate tenors are usually only giving recitals and concerts of arias. That's the role Carreras looked to have assumed, and this will be his first complete opera since Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's 'Sly' in 2002.
By James Inverne

  • Why You Should've Seen Henrik Ibsen's 'An Enemy of the People' at BAM's Next Wave Fest

    The ghost of Henrik Ibsen's head flaps its giant sideburn wings as it glides through the exposed stone walls of the BAM Harvey Theater, where it settles on a rail in the house gallery. Stoically observing the latest production of his "iconoclast-erpiece," An Enemy of the People, his hawk-like eyes reveal nothing behind their wired frames.
    By B. Samuels

  • Remembering Sir John Tavener (1944-2013)

    Not many modern composers have made it into the wider consciousness. Sir John Tavener, who died yesterday aged 69, was one of the few. What does one mean by "the wider consciousness?" Western cultural circles, certainly--the kinds of people who would go to art galleries or plays, but not necessarily many concerts, would still have heard of Tavener. And he even shined his light into the lives of those who rarely (or never) crossed the door of a classical music venue. His Song for Athene, when played at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, was a comfort to a nation's grief.
    By James Inverne