by Gregory Moomjy As a die-hard classical music fan, the phrase “museum piece” drives me crazy. I hate the fact that the general public has this idea that classical music is simply a bunch of old pieces from hundreds of years ago that get dusted off again and again and again to be played exactly the…Continue reading Review: Simon Bore the Cross

By Gregory Moomjy Anyone who knows me, knows the story about how I was three years old when I was introduced to opera by a VHS tape of the magic flute as I was recovering from major back surgery. However, what I typically don’t tell them, is that after that fateful introduction my grandfather took…Continue reading Review: Lucia Di Lammermoor

by Gregory Moomjy If Verdi had lived to see the American opera scene of the mid-to-late 20th century, he might be overjoyed to realize that the most frequently performed operas at the Metropolitan Opera could be listed as ABC: Aida, La Boheme, and Carmen. When he wrote Aida in 1871, he wanted a hit and all the economic prosperity that would…Continue reading REVIEW: Don Carlos

by Gregory Moomjy Today it is difficult to imagine the canon without Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata. Written between 1851-1853, it is safe to say that these operas don’t just form the backbone of Verdi’s middle period, but they also are the backbone of the standard repertoire. However, an unfortunate drawback of their ubiquitous…Continue reading Review: Rigoletto

by Gregory Moomjy Say the word oratorio in casual conversation and chances are Handel & Mendelssohn are the first names to come to mind. The classic oratorios by those composers are typically centered on Biblical figures like Samson, Deborah, and Elijah, or early Christian saints like Theodora of Antioch. It is rare to find an…Continue reading REVIEW: Considering Matthew Shepard