Phil's Opera World

Opera en quatre actes. Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes. The jacquerie was a bloody but short-lived (June to August) peasant revolt that took place in the Oise River valley of northern France (the river, which starts in Belgium, cuts Rouen off from direct access to Paris), in the summer of 1358 during the Hundred…

Opera en cinq actes. Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes This one is in response to OperaScribe’s recent post. Called the anti-Opera, Pelleas et Melisande is possibly the most beautiful musical stage work of the 20th century (although, ironically, it was actually written in the 1890s). It does not have the decadent fire and fury…

Opera in three acts. Running Time: 2 hours 41 minutes. This is one of my longer reviews, over 3000 words. I started working on it back in July 2022 and picked it up again recently. Unfortunately, Sterling Records never issued a libretto with this one, so I am basing my synopsis on their retelling of…

Opera comique en trois actes. Running Time: 2 hours 13 minutes. Another Adam entry, probably his most famous operatic work, and one I have been wanting to finish for years. The plot is even more slight than that of Si j’etais roi, the music in an earlier style closer to bel canto than grand opera…

Opera Comique en trois actes. Running Time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Perhaps I should have reviewed Le Chalet or Le Postillion de Longjumeau first, but there is just something about this lavish spectacle which intrigues me. By some critics, it is considered to be the finest score Adam ever wrote. This being my first Adam…