Charles Michener
Articles by Charles Michener
City Opera’s Bad Boy
LIES WALLAERT, OP
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Toward the end of the 2000 Salzburg Festival, Gérard Mortier, the Belgian impresario whom the read more »
Mark Morris Debuts at the Met; Don’t Miss Voigt, Bronfman, Pirates
Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
Mark Morris.
I can’t imagine a better way to shake the late-winter blahs than hearing the great German bass read more »
Older Than Its Own Home, The I.P.O. Marks a Birthday
Gustavo Dudamel, a fast-rising young maestro from Venezuela.
“All these great soloists and conductors are family,” said Avi Shoshani, the secretary g read more »
Handsome, Athletic Tenor, Hungry for Superstardom
Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
A Peruvian paragon: Juan Diego Fl
“He’s got everything I encourage my students to aspire to,” Marilyn Horne said to read more »
Handsome, Athletic Tenor, Hungry for Superstardom
“He’s got everything I encourage my students to aspire to,” Marilyn Horne said to me a few wee read more »
I Remember Altman: Inclusive, Imposing American Dreamer
Hulton Archives
Robert Altman in 1974.
It seemed, on that hot, hazy spring day in 1974, as though the entire population of Nashville had tu read more »
Carnegie Hosts a Duel; Cleveland Honors Bruckner
Question: What does cutting-edge classical music have in common with cancer drugs? read more »
Carnegie Hosts a Duel; Cleveland Honors Bruckner
Question: What does cutting-edge classical music have in common with cancer drugs? read more »
Madama for the Masses; Ponchielli for Night Owls
On opening night, a red carpet led operagoers Oscar-style across the Lincoln Center Plaza. read more »
Madama for the Masses; Ponchielli for Night Owls
Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
Anthony Minghella
On opening night, a red carpet led operagoers Oscar-style across the Lincoln Center Plaza. read more »
Butterfly, Barber, and The Cave; Plus, Here’s the Messiah to Beat!
L. Trievnor/Getty Images
Pianist Ivo Pogorelich, who may or may not appear at the Metropolitan Museum on Oct. 26.
Strictly speaking, the classical-music season began Sept. read more »
Butterfly, Barber, and The Cave; Plus, Here's the Messiah to Beat!
Strictly speaking, the classical-music season began Sept. read more »
Schumann’s Genoveva at Bard; Mozart Politicized by Sellars
Cory Weaaver
Schumann
The heat of summer seems to bring out obscure oddities plucked from the overstocked greenhouse of We read more »
Schumann's Genoveva at Bard; Mozart Politicized by Sellars
The heat of summer seems to bring out obscure oddities plucked from the overstocked greenhouse of We read more »
For Lucky Opera Lovers, A Vibrant Munich Festival
Wilfred Hosl
Sir Peter Jonas is retiring after 13 years at the Bavarian State Opera.
When the great German bass Kurt Moll came out for his curtain call after the second act of Die Meist read more »
For Lucky Opera Lovers, A Vibrant Munich Festival
When the great German bass Kurt Moll came out for his curtain call after the second act of Die Meist read more »
An Inner Light Extinguished: Farewell to a Great Singer
Richard Termine
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954-2006).
I once asked the late, esteemed voice teacher Beverley Johnson what distinguished a truly great sing read more »
An Inner Light Extinguished: Farewell to a Great Singer
I once asked the late, esteemed voice teacher Beverley Johnson what distinguished a truly great sing read more »
Wilson’s Stylized Lohengrin Finds Some New Admirers
Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Karita Mattila and Ben Heppner in Robert Wilson
Wagner conceived Lohengrin in a bath—while he was taking the waters at Marienbad in 1845. read more »
Wilson's Stylized Lohengrin Finds Some New Admirers
Wagner conceived Lohengrin in a bath—while he was taking the waters at Marienbad in 1845. read more »
A Pair of Formidable Pianists Scale Back for Mozart, Chopin
Mikhail Pletnev (above) masters Mozart; Maurizio Pollini has the chops for Chopin.
“Round fingers for Mozart, flat fingers for Chopin,” my piano teacher used to say. read more »
A Pair of Formidable Pianists Scale Back for Mozart, Chopin
“Round fingers for Mozart, flat fingers for Chopin,” my piano teacher used to say. read more »
Leaving on a High Note: After 42 Years, Volpe Bows Out
You don’t spend 16 years giving orders to the biggest stars in opera without having an opera-size read more »
Leaving on a High Note: After 42 Years, Volpe Bows Out
Marty Sohl
Anna Netrebko in Don Pasquale at the Met.
You don’t spend 16 years giving orders to the biggest stars in opera without having an opera-s read more »
A Memento and a Harbinger: The Met Ponders a Crossroads
Jack Vartoogian
Joyce DiDonato as Dejanira in Handel
Peter Gelb, who’s slated to take the helm at the Metropolitan Opera this summer, recently told read more »
A Memento and a Harbinger: The Met Ponders a Crossroads
Peter Gelb, who’s slated to take the helm at the Metropolitan Opera this summer, recently told a r read more »
Mozart is 250, Shostakovich 100— And Joe Volpe Says Goodbye
Peter Riguad
Soprano Anna Netrebko.
The classical-music world loves nothing more than a great composer’s anniversary. read more »
Mozart is 250, Shostakovich 100- And Joe Volpe Says Goodbye
The classical-music world loves nothing more than a great composer’s anniversary. read more »
Resourceful Opera Company Polishes a Britten Treasure
The Gotham Chamber Opera
Richard Wagner and Benjamin Britten each created his own brand of utopia. read more »
Resourceful Opera Company Polishes a Britten Treasure
Richard Wagner and Benjamin Britten each created his own brand of utopia. read more »
Gentle, Self-Effacing Pianist Displays His Unruffled Focus
Tomokai Hikawa
American-born pianist Stephen Kovacevich has lived in London since 1959.
Who is today’s best American pianist? read more »
Gentle, Self-Effacing Pianist Displays His Unruffled Focus
Who is today’s best American pianist? read more »
Triumphant American Premiere For Frenchman’s Piano Concerto
Roger Mastroianni
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (right), at the U.S. premiere of Marc-Andr
In the great piano concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Bartók, the driving read more »
Triumphant American Premiere For Frenchman's Piano Concerto
In the great piano concertos of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Bartók, the driving impul read more »
Performed Live or Recorded, The High Notes of the Year
Richard Termine
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Looking back on this past year of Manhattan Music columns, I’m struck by a misnomer: The term read more »
Performed Live or Recorded, The High Notes of the Year
Looking back on this past year of Manhattan Music columns, I’m struck by a misnomer: The term “c read more »
Pianists Abroad and at Home, Alone with the Black Beast
The art of the concert pianist is different from that of other classical soloists. read more »
Pianists Abroad and at Home, Alone with the Black Beast
Courtesy of Michael Rolland Davis
A 90-year-old prodigy: Earl Wild.
The art of the concert pianist is different from that of other classical soloists. read more »
Vocal Heroics From Two Stars: Heppner and Voigt in Top Form
Devon Cass
The next Br
As a journalist who covered everything from race riots to Supreme Court nominations before turning t read more »
A Trio of Playful Concerts: The Sheer Delight in Doing It
Richard Termine
The irrepressible Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 19.
Looking back at some of my old music columns, I’ve discovered several overused adjectives. read more »
A Trio of Playful Concerts: The Sheer Delight in Doing It
Looking back at some of my old music columns, I’ve discovered several overused adjectives. read more »
Not Over Till Fat Boy Drops— Opera Takes on Los Alamos
Terrence McCarthy
Gerald Finley as J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams
Opera, the most multilayered art form, loves war for its multiplicity of passions. read more »
Not Over Till Fat Boy Drops- Opera Takes on Los Alamos
Opera, the most multilayered art form, loves war for its multiplicity of passions. read more »
An Iconic Tenor's Secret Wish: To Tackle Most Demanding Role
In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pi read more »
An Iconic Tenor’s Secret Wish: To Tackle Most Demanding Role
Marcus Brandt/AFP/Getty Images
Pl
In 1875, Clara Schumann, the widow of the composer Robert Schumann and the most celebrated female pi read more »
Plays Well With Others: Mozart Makes New Friends
Richard Termine
Lithe and energetic on the podium: Louis Langr
For years, the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center seemed an idea whose time had gone. read more »
Plays Well With Others: Mozart Makes New Friends
For years, the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center seemed an idea whose time had gone. read more »
Going Bonkers at the Opera: Glimmerglass Flirts With Chaos
George Mott/Glimmerglass Opera
Amy Burton in the Glimmerglass Opera production of Poulenc's La Voix Humaine (
Opera, it might be said, is a kind of madhouse: Musically, it pushes vocal capacities to the breakin read more »
Going Bonkers at the Opera: Glimmerglass Flirts With Chaos
Opera, it might be said, is a kind of madhouse: Musically, it pushes vocal capacities to the breakin read more »
Summer Season Exotica, In Rome- and Closer to Home
A few weeks ago, I was in steamy Rome, where I dropped in on the second annual Rome Chamber Music Fe read more »
