The Seattle P-I and Times have posted their reviews of the latest Seattle opera production, Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Schoenberg's "Erwartung" here and here.
I can't encourage you enough to go see this double bill, which is playing through March 7. The P-I reviewer is not exaggerating to call it "brilliant opera." The singing is fantastic and the orchestra does an amazing job, but it's the staging that drew me in from the start and held my attention through both operas in surprising ways, sometimes disturbing and often delightful. I don't want to say any more because it might ruin the experience to know too much before you go. Just go!
If you think you can't afford the opera, you're in for a pleasant surprise; Seattle Opera has done a great job of providing lower-cost options to make opera available to everyone. Visit their "Ways to Save" page for more information. Teenagers in particular should enroll in the Teen Tix program to get $5 rush tickets to a host of different shows at Seattle Center.
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I thought Bluebeard's Castle was phenomenal. I found it a deeply moving drama featuring a sophisticated musical and lyrical manifestation of internal psychology. I thought the staging was amazing, and I loved the way the musical tonality and the lyrical and substantive content worked so well together. This opera engaged me much more than many operas with more conventional, and superficial, librettos.
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