By Gregory Moomjy Lady Jane Grey, also known as the “Nine Days Queen,” was Britain’s first female monarch. She was crowned after the death of Edward VI, who was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. Edward was a militant protestant. As such, he didn’t want any Catholics (or women for that matter) to…Continue reading REVIEW: The Chronicle of Nine

By Gregory Moomjy Nowadays, Gianni Schicchi, has a well-deserved reputation as one of the best comic operas. However, its 1918 world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera was less than auspicious. The piece is the last of three one act operas which, when performed together, constitute Puccini’s triptych or Il Trittico. The plots of each of these three…Continue reading REVIEW: Pietà

by Gregory Moomjy As an opera lover, having to explain that The Phantom of the Opera is technically not an opera is a dirty part of the job. What’s worse is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score contains several blatantly obvious allusions to Puccini. However, even though Phantomcontinues to vex opera lovers, it can also teach us some music history. One…Continue reading REVIEW: The Queen of Sheba

by Gregory Moomjy Every opera lover has their own story about how they first fell in love with the artform. However, it is safe to say that many of us got our first exposure to it from Looney Tunes, specifically cartoons like “What’s Opera Doc?” and “The Rabbit of Seville”. The latter is predominated by…Continue reading REVIEW: The Barber of Seville