Well Sung
Well Sung is a English-speaking blog specialized in the field of classical music and opera. As such, Well Sung is a qualified source of soclassiq, like Ludwig van Toronto or Planet Hugill and many others. The oldest article indexed by soclassiq is dated 2012-01-05. Since then, a total of 131 articles have been written and published by Well Sung.
Well Sung blog activity
Well Sung seems to be on pause right now, since no article has been published for 3 months. The last article in Well Sung, "Don Carlos in Chicago", is dated 2022-11-28.
"On pause" does not mean, however, that Well Sung will not resume its activity soon, nor that its articles are less interesting than another more active source.
This editorial activity is no different from that recorded for the previous period.
Well Sung in the last 36 months
Weekly publications:
Well Sung All indexed sources
Well Sung has been selected by soclassiq to be among its qualified sources because we believe that its articles fully contribute to the knowledge of classical music and opera. Because it is up to everyone to make their own opinion, to love Well Sung or to prefer other writings, all our visitors and members are invited to discover Well Sung. If you like it, feel free to add it to your browser bookmarks or soclassiq bookmarks (for its members, with the button below). This will allow you to come back to it easily and regularly.
The latest articles from Well Sung
Add this page to your soclassiq bookmarks
2022-11-28 04:15:00
Despite some solid casting Lyric's first take on the 5-Act French language Don Carlos (seen in its last iteration on November 25th) was not so much a revelation as a reminder about what a slog this show can be. I think a lot of the blame has to go to Lyric MD Enrique Mazzola on the podium, who conducted a performance that seemed to be trying to convey how important and momentous a show this is but just ended up sacrificing any sense of momentum or excitement in the music. For all it's epic sweep Don Carlos still operates by the same musical logic as other Verdi potboilers and it needs to be played with an eye towards building tension and milking the drama like usual. There were a few glimmers of life in random places like the Posa-Philip scene and stretches of Act IV but the norm was plodding […]
2022-11-03 15:09:00
2020-03-02 16:04:00
Wrote about Cantate Chamber Singers' March concert for WCR: Victoria Gau, now halfway through her first season as music director of the Cantate Chamber Singers, led the chorus in a unique program interspersing (mostly) 20th century choral selections among the movements of Mozart’s Requiem, Sunday night at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda.
2020-02-29 16:06:00
Thoughts on the Brentano String Quartet for WCR: Wolf Trap presented the Brentano String Quartet Friday night, with a thoughtful take on Beethoven anniversary year. The program was organized around Beethoven’s Op. 132 String Quartet in A minor, particularly its celebrated third movement.
2020-01-11 20:24:00
Thoughts on WNO's 20 minute opera evening for WCR: The American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera’s program devoted to developing new work, presented its annual set of 20-minute commissions Friday night at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre. While the results are frequently mixed, these evenings always offer a welcome opportunity to understand how composers of the moment are addressing familiar challenges.
2019-11-28 02:43:00
I wrote about Washington Concert Opera's Hamlet for Parterre: Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet isn’t the rarity it once was, with a handful of notable productions in recent years, including the Met in 2010 and here at Washington National Opera in the same year, featuring Elizabeths Bishop and Futral, plus Sam Ramey (!) as Claudius. (I’ve been thinking this decade went by quickly but maybe not?) Read the whole thing here...
2022-10-24 05:23:00
I'm afraid this Il Trovatore was a bit of a rocky start to Washington National Opera's 22/23 season, with the company assembling some good fundamentals but turning out an inconsistent show overall. Latonia Moore's Leonora was the big draw here, and for good reason--the voice is a gorgeous fit for Leonora, combining an unimpeachable top with a rich chest voice that easily filled the KC Opera House. But unfortunately the big numbers just never made it past the level of a beautiful voice singing beautiful songs. These should be vocal and dramatic events driven by whatever the diva in question has to share, but Moore seemed to be largely coloring within the lines of the perfunctory tempi coming out of the pit. Also, she had a problematic tendency to slide between notes in the coloratura passages--making a confusing hash of the cabaletta to Tacea La Notte and generally marring the beautiful […]
2022-10-11 05:46:00
Michael Spyres took a night off from his celebrated run in the Met's Idomeneo revival to open the Vocal Arts DC season in a compact program of song cycles from Berlioz, Beethoven, and Liszt.Spyres' rendition of Berlioz' Les Nuits d'Ete was a fine showcase for his distinctive "baritenor" and the range of colors he is capable of producing with it. After the half, An die Ferne Geliebte was elegant if a bit forgettable (tough being the classical transition piece between two romantic-era powerhouses). For such a distinctive sound, Spyres is something of a chameleon, employing a whole different approach and set of seemingly period-appropriate(?) effects for each cycle. After the tasteful Berlioz and Beethoven, Spyres offered Liszt's spectacular Tre Sonetti del Petrarca for the final cycle. Vocal recitals by opera singers tend to withhold something a bit more explicitly operatic for the big finish, but rarely has the reveal been as dramatic […]
2022-10-06 04:44:00
The Met’s opening night production of Cherubini's "Medea" played to the house's strengths: putting great singers in comfortable surroundings and letting them do their thing. Medea is ripe for more thoughtful interrogation than this McVicar joint could provide, but this was undoubtedly the right vehicle for the company's star-driven opening night and it came off splendidly. The superstar at the center, Sondra Radvanovsky, delivered all the big-time Medea one could ask for, serving utter command of the stage but also depth of characterization and attention to detail. Radvanovsky does not deliver CD-perfect sound on stage but the vocal excitement and awe she can create is far more important, and any idiosyncrasies were easily folded into the character. Besides the vocal demands, this is a treacherous acting assignment for a singer. Maintaining a feverish emotional pitch through I dunno, 10 - 20 oaths of revenge, may be the easy part—Medea must also […]
2020-03-01 20:23:00
Quick thoughts on WNO's new Don Giovanni last night... I walked into this show erroneously assuming WNO was bringing back the very successful production from ~2010 or so but this an entirely new (and somewhat less successful) joint. For some reason this new production sets the action in a hyper-modern that looks a bit like a law firm lobby, while keeping the costumes in the standard vaguely 18th century feudal aesthetic. It's not terrible, just somewhat puzzling. Why not just put everyone in modern dress? The key directorial intervention is a series of ghostly female figures in white that represent Don Giovanni's victims, appearing at various points throughout the show and ultimately acting as the avenging spirits dragging DG down to hell. This seems perfectly fair, if not especially unexpected or particularly inventive in light of the topical #metoo frame being added to Don Giovannis far and wide these days. […]