It’s too bad, because this Der Freischütz had good musical qualities. It was sensibly and sensitively (if not thrillingly) conducted by Opera Boston’s Gil Rose and well cast. Getting the biggest applause: soprano Heather Buck, a charming, vividly characterized Ännchen; Boston baritone David Kravitz, a commanding Price Ottokar; basses Andrew Funk, the villain Kaspar, and resonant Herbert Perry, who was both an amplified Devil and an otherworldly Hermit (he played Leporello opposite his twin brother Eugene’s Don Giovanni in Peter Sellars’s famous Mozart production); and especially Edward Jones and his outstanding chorus. Soprano Emily Pulley and tenor Daniel Snyder (Jimmy in Opera Boston’s powerful Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny — staged by Helfrich) sang well as the lovers without creating memorable characters. A concert version might have given us more of the real Freischütz.
Related:
Leon Kirchner, 1919–2009, Noble melody, Heaven!, More 
- Leon Kirchner, 1919–2009
Craggy, tender, passionate, witty, rough-edged, lyrical, uncompromising, Leon Kirchner's music, so like the man himself, made an indelible impression. Even in his recent appearance at a 90th-birthday tribute concert at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the old fire and wit, the frankness and the refusal to sentimentalize, were there.
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For the first time since James Levine became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, this acclaimed Verdi specialist conducted the BSO in a Verdi opera.
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Martin Pearlman's edition of Monteverdi's Vespro della Beate Vergine, with inserted antiphons to suggest an actual service, remains a masterpiece of historical research and inspired guesswork.
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This week’s health headlines also included the announcement from the Boston Symphony Orchestra that music director James Levine has been sidelined again, from the “excruciating pain” he’s been suffering since his surgery for a herniated disc.
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One of my most profound musical experiences took place when I was still a graduate student.
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Living for a century is still a milestone; for a great and still-productive artist to do so is virtually unheard of.
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The Boston Symphony Orchestra began the new year with one of its most disappointing concerts since music director James Levine took over.
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Opera is the big word for 2009.
- 2009: The year in Classical
This was a queasy year for classical music.
- Year in Classical: Celebrate!
In Handel's Hercules, the demented Dejanira's loss is still so painful, I was afraid to listen; now I don't want to hear anything else.
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BSO music director James Levine has returned to Symphony Hall for the first time since October, when back surgery put him out of commission.
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Topics:
Classical
, David Kravitz, Entertainment, Arizona State Sun Devils, More
, David Kravitz, Entertainment, Arizona State Sun Devils, Daniel Snyder, Carl Maria von Weber, Thomas Mann, Heather Buck, Music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Classical Music, Less
