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Articles tagged with: Alan E. Muraoka

In jewel-box setting, Chicago Opera Theater polishes rare Tchaikovsky treasure ‘Iolanta’

Nov 16, 2018 – 5:35 pm
COT 'Iolanta' 14 feature image Michael Brosilow

Review: It’s not often that you can pull a forgotten gem out of the trunk, showcase it in a tasteful setting, and reveal it for the magnificently neglected thing that it is. Chicago Opera Theater has succeeded in doing us that favor with Tchaikovsky’s dreamy, naturalistic 1892 opera “Iolanta” – the composer’s last – performed by able forces at the Studebaker, a lovingly refurbished 740-seat jewel-box on Michigan Avenue that also dates from that same last decade of the 19th century. ★★★

This old ‘House’ a bit shaky as multi-Mitisek ushers in COT regime with goth Philip Glass

Feb 26, 2013 – 4:32 pm
Ryan MacPherson Roderick tormented by entombment of Madeline Fall House Usher Philip Glass Chicago Opera Theater 2013 cred Liz Lauren

Review: On paper this looks like a no-brainer: American opera’s most influential composer of the 20th century transforming a gothic horror tale by Edgar Allen Poe, the 19th century’s master of the macabre. You can almost taste the possibilities for sustained tension and terror. Goth drollery is needed, but COT’s twice-twisted tale meanders. ★★★