Denise Hamilton 
On a chilly and wet Sunday evening, the Pasadena Master Chorale delivered yet another warm and satisfying performance of Christmas music to an appreciative audience. There couldn’t be a better venue than the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church in Pasadena for holiday choral music. Its towering Gothic cathedral style with wood beams, full horseshoe … Read more
To kick off their 2015-16 Season, Redlands Opera Theatre held its 4th Annual Gala and Fundraiser on September 12, in Dangermond Hall at the beautiful Mission Gables Bowl House – the newly renovated, historical home which overlooks the Redlands Bowl. Seating was provided at round tables, elegantly set for guests to dine while listening to … Read more
by Coril Prochnow, Lister reviewer Riverside Lyric Opera presented a jewel from Puccini’s crown, Suor Angelica, on September 18th at The Box at The Fox on Market Street in Riverside. A wonderfully intimate venue for opera, “The Box” offers an upscale private environment for evening entertainment, with a secluded plaza and a private entry to the … Read more
by Carolyn Val-Schmidt and Coril Prochnow Independent Opera Company’s July production of The Tsar’s Bride at West LA’s Lutheran Church of the Master was a very rare outing of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, which was first produced in Moscow in 1899 and is well-beloved in Russia. It is the story of a beautiful young woman, Marfa, … Read more
by Norge Yip, Lister reviewer Pasadena Master Chorale presented the fifth concert of its current season on June 14, performing Brahms’ Requiem at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena. More than 300 attendees left the cool summer evening and entered a space where the warmth and still air verged on being uncomfortable, but all of that … Read more
by Carolyn Val-Schmidt, guest reviewer, and Coril Prochnow On June 20th a small group of people was treated to the treasure of an intimate concert (a la “Schubertiade”) at the Montgomery Arts House for Music & Architecture, the Malibu home of Maria Newman and Scott Hosfeld. Fondly thought of as MAHMA, the building was specially designed for … Read more
By Amber Peters, Lister reviewer Imagine a Sunday afternoon in early summer. The sun beats down and hints at greater heat to come as you stroll along an avenue of mature, shady trees. Songbirds are twittering, robins strutting on the grass, while you wend your way along a garden path toward a stately, classical building. You join others as a trickle of pedestrians … Read more
By Tadzio Garcia, guest reviewer Rossini’s perennially popular opera, The Barber of Seville, which premiered in 1816, sets the first of three Beaumarchais plays dealing with Figaro’s wit and comments on contemporary society. To be sure, Rossini’s composition puts his singers through their paces. Each character demands a wide and agile range and there was plenty on … Read more
by Bryan Dahl, community reviewer For whatever delightfully mysterious reason, it’s the experiences in life which completely shatter our expectations that seem the most rewarding. Never having been to a performance by the Angeles Chorale, my expectations couldn’t help changing by the minute as I sat in the balcony of the gorgeous First United Methodist Church … Read more
Verdi’s Aïda is opera at its grandest: a large-scale operatic spectacle in four acts, composed for a huge chorus and orchestra with principal characters who must possess voices that can be heard over the full fortissimo of the entire ensemble. Add massive five- or six-story sets to represent the immensity of the Egyptian pyramids, sometimes propped … Read more
