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☆ Review: A ‘Roméo et Juliette’ Is Saved by Its Stars
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two weeks ago at the Metropolitan Opera, a superb cast in “La Forza del Destino” outshone a new, somewhat confused staging by Mariusz Trelinski. And now, Bartlett Sher’s handsome yet unconvincing 2016 production of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” has returned to the house with a pair of singers in splendid form. Sher’s staging situates the action on a raised platform surrounded by stone facades and colonnades. Beautifully lit by Jennifer Tipton and costumed by Catherine Zuber, the production runs out of ideas quickly. But that doesn’t really matter when you have singers on the order of Nadine Sierra and Benjamin Bernheim in the title roles.

Persons: Mariusz Trelinski, Bartlett Sher’s, Roméo, Juliette ”, Jennifer Tipton, Catherine Zuber, Nadine Sierra, Benjamin Bernheim Organizations: Metropolitan Opera, Forza Locations: “

☆ Review: The Met Opera’s ‘Turandot’ Returns With a Strong Debut
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Puccini’s “Turandot,” a verismo opera set in a fabled version of ancient China, makes for an odd love story. Its unlikable romantic leads go largely unfazed by the death and dismemberment they instigate; when they finally share true love’s kiss, they’re standing atop a figurative pile of corpses. On Wednesday at the Metropolitan Opera, the conductor Oksana Lyniv made a strong debut, emphasizing the murderous, life-or-death stakes instead of the fairy-tale Orientalism that has made it a cultural lightning rod in recent years. The reckoning around “Turandot” creates a problem for the Met, because the company’s long-running production, a lavish spectacle introduced by the director Franco Zeffirelli in 1987, is a hit. The gold-and-ecru throne room of Act II still dazzles, and eye-popping exoticism runs rampant, with acrobats, ribbon dancers, curled-roof pavilions and a dragon puppet.

Persons: Puccini’s, ”, Oksana Lyniv, “, —, Franco Zeffirelli Organizations: Metropolitan Opera Locations: China

☆ FIFA Best Awards: Lionel Messi, Aitana Bonmatí, a green carpet and a mini tuxedo. Step inside the surreal world
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Matias Grez | Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Spaniard went on to be crowned the Best Men’s Coach after guiding City to the treble last season. That is not normal – for anything in history.”Manchester City Pep Guardiola poses with the trophy after being named the best men's coach in 2023. Later, shortlists were determined by two separate panels of experts in men’s and women’s football. Players past and present were in attendance, including the likes of Brazilian great Ronaldo and the newly crowned Women’s Best Player, Aitana Bonmatí. I’m very happy about how women’s football has evolved in Brazil and in the world.

Persons: CNN —, Pep Guardiola, Romina Polenta, Polenta, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, “, Messi, ” Polenta, Manchester City Pep Guardiola, Michael Regan, Johanne Perraud, “ Kiki, ”, Perraud didn’t, murmurs, shortlists, Ronaldo, Aitana Bonmatí, Oussama Nacer, I’ve, Nacer, Thierry Henry, ” Johanne Perraud, Romina, Matias Grez, Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso, Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Hermoso, Sarina Wiegman, Marta, “ There’ll, I’m, It’s, Hugo Íñiguez, Íñiguez’s, Íñiguez Organizations: CNN, FIFA, Manchester City, Spaniard, CNN Sport, Qatar, Inter Miami, MLS, Nacer, Royal Spanish Football Federation, Argentine, Colón, Salta Rodríguez Locations: London, Argentina, Qatar, Buenos Aires, France, men’s, Spain, Brazil, Salta

The earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday night hit near Marrakesh, a popular tourist destination, sending both residents and visitors scrambling for safety. “We didn’t know if we had to stand up, to sit down, to run,” Mr. Ait Chari said. Ms. Lorang and hundreds of others found refuge in a courtyard, where some brought out rugs and blankets to sleep. “It was very chaotic.”Mr. Ait Chari, the tour guide, said he was supposed to pick up more clients on Sunday but was unsure flights would be maintained. Many people were still in shock, he said, but there had also been “great solidarity,” as residents cleared roads.

Persons: “, Jen Lorang, ” Ms, Lorang, “ I’ve, Mr, Ait, ”, Jean, Baptiste Guinet Organizations: Big, ”, UNESCO, Heritage, Tourism, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development Locations: Morocco, Marrakesh, Ait Chari, Massachusetts, Seattle, San Francisco, ” Morocco, Agadir, ”, Taroudant

☆ Renata Scotto Spun an Actor’s Insight Into Vocal Gold
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Scotto contained multitudes, and that extended to her vocal categorization, too. Some have described her as a lyric by fach and a spinto by temperament, attributing her vocal decline — inevitable for any singer — to the irreconcilability of the two. Her Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” preserved on two studio recordings, exploits the permeable boundary among those voice types. The progress is not linear; her voice responds to hopes and doubts that the heroine continually surfaces and suppresses. Scotto’s morbidezza — her ability to inflect her middle voice with captivating softness — was arguably her most impressive quality.

Persons: Scotto, fach, —, Puccini, ”, “, Lorin Maazel, morbidezza, Verdi’s, ” Scotto, pesky, It’s, Riccardo Muti’s, Violetta, Lucia, Mimì, Desdemona Organizations: Cio Locations: Puccini’s, “ La

☆ Brussels bombing attacks: Six guilty of "terrorist murder," Belgian public broadcaster reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A Brussels court on Tuesday found six out of ten suspects guilty of “terrorist murder” in the 2016 Brussels attacks, according to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. Mohamed Abrini, Oussama Atar, Osama Krayem, Salah Abdeslam, Ali El Haddad Asufi and Bilal El Makhoukhi were all found guilty of terrorist murder, according to RTBF. The Brussels court established a terrorist motive behind the attacks, ruling that the group’s intention was to intimidate the Belgian population and kill as many people as possible, RTBF reported. The six men, alongside Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa and Sofien Ayari, were also found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization, according to RTBF. Meanwhile, Oussama Atar who was absent from the Brussels trial, is presumed to have been killed in Syria, according to RTBF.

Persons: Mohamed Abrini, Oussama Atar, Osama Krayem, Salah Abdeslam, Ali El Haddad Asufi, Bilal El Makhoukhi, Hervé Bayingana, Sofien Ayari, Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Abdeslam, Smail Farisi, Ibrahim Farisi Organizations: CNN, RTBF, ISIS, Reuters, European Union Locations: Brussels, Belgian, Paris, Syria, Belgium, Iraq

Summary Eight of 10 accused convictedSentencing to follow in SeptemberBRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) - A Belgian court convicted six men of murder and two others of terrorism charges on Tuesday after the country's largest ever trial involving the 2016 Islamist bombings in Brussels that killed 32 people. The six, of 10 facing charges, were found guilty of murder and attempted murder in a terrorist context for their part in the twin bombings at Brussels airport and third bomb on the city's metro on March 22, 2016. Among those convicted was Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the trial over the Paris attacks that killed 130 people. The four are among six accused already convicted in France over the November 2015 Paris attacks. The 12 jury members reached a decision on Monday after two weeks in isolation at the end of a seven-month trial at the former headquarters of NATO specially set up to host the Brussels bombings trial.

Persons: Pierre Bastin, Aline, Pierre, Yves Desaive, Salah Abdeslam, Mohamed Abrini, Swedish Osama Krayem, Oussama Atar, Laurence Massart, Philip Blenkinsop, Marine Strauss, Jonathan Oatis, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Brussels Airport, NATO, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Brussels, Belgian, Swedish, Oussama, Syria, France, Paris, balaclavas

☆ Bel Canto Rarities, Delivered With Unflashy, Revelatory Style
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Opera fandom is often built around a preoccupation — zealous, territorial, absolute — with distinctive voices. Maria Callas, Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Luciano Pavarotti — they’re all immediately identifiable by timbre alone. Teatro Nuovo, the brainchild of the bel canto specialist Will Crutchfield, inverts that value system. It asks: What would happen if all of the singers onstage shared a particular school of singing and even a certain vocal quality? The singers in the two casts largely shared a vocal profile and style — a trim yet colorful sound with a quick, understated vibrato and an emphasis on legato, portamento and unaspirated coloratura.

Persons: Maria Callas, Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Luciano Pavarotti — they’re, Will Crutchfield, Donizetti’s, ”, Federico, Luigi Ricci’s “ Organizations: Teatro Nuovo, Theater, Lincoln Center

Even gaining qualifications in Italy didn't help Abhishek, a 26-year-old migrant from India who got a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Turin's Polytechnic University last year. Italy, which is also contending with an exodus of skilled nationals to stronger economies, needs qualified immigrants to fill growing skilled labour shortages, many economists say. In 2023, work permits will be granted to around 83,000 non-EU migrants, according to government data, less than a third of the 277,000 who applied for them. Barbera at Turin University said the lack of migrants in skilled professions has become entrenched and hard to reverse. "Migrants in Italy have virtually no access to the middle class," he said.

☆ The Boston Symphony Finds Surprises and Strengths in New Music
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When orchestras come to Carnegie Hall, their programs typically tell you two things: who they are and what they can do. Or when the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko opened up the complex worlds of Mahler’s Seventh with coordinated virtuosity. And over two nights at Carnegie this week, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Andris Nelsons, told their story gradually, one piece at a time, in canonical works by Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius and Mozart. Among American orchestras, the Boston Symphony’s sound is enviably rich. That opulence was readily apparent in the ceaseless flow of cantabile melodies in Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony.

☆ Spotlighting Lady Macbeth’s Anguish: Can What’s Done Be Undone?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Oussama Zahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Macduff, the chorus, Macbeth’s big Act IV aria — all scrapped. In typical stagings, Lady Macbeth comes across as an unsubtle, unrepentant harridan whose abrupt crisis of conscience in the opera’s final act stretches credulity. Heartbeat starts with Lady Macbeth’s breakdown as the essential truth of her character and then molds the narrative to fit it. The show begins with Lady Macbeth in bed, sobbing uncontrollably, full of remorse for all the blood she has helped to shed. In Heartbeat’s telling, Lady Macbeth, no longer the scapegoat for her husband’s foul behavior, is the one who is led astray by an avaricious spouse.

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