Opera the Way It Was Meant to Be

Madison Opera opens its 59th season with a spot-on La Traviata   Call me old-fashioned—or if you prefer, an old-school conservative—but when it comes to the way an opera should look, I generally want operas such as Carmen to look the way they did when the creative teams created them. Thus I came away from…

Tidings of Great Joy (for the 25th time)

“Madison Symphony Christmas” replicates its winning formula   I’ve only heard the last nine editions of the “Madison Symphony Christmas,” so I’m not sure exactly how long it took music director John DeMain to hit upon his winning formula. Last weekend was the 25th edition during his tenure, and perhaps the most impressive thing about…

Madison Opera’s Carmen So Easy to Love

Baseball may be over, but the season-opener is a home run It isn’t just that Bizet’s incarnation of Carmen, the wanton gypsy girl who ruins lives almost as quickly as the composer strung together hit numbers in his opera, seduces Don Jose so easily—she is responsible for ensnaring many a first-time listener into the world…