Il Barbiere Di Saviglia Shmuel Ben-Tovim 01/03/2020 When I first spotted "Il Barbiere Di Saviglia" on the yearly programme of the Israeli Opera, my immediate reaction was: what a challenge it is for a d...
Dead Man Walking גבר מת מהלך Shmuel Ben-Tovim 15/12/2019 Dead Man Walking is arguably the most performed contemporary American opera in the repertoire. This excellent production by the Israeli Opera provides...
Manon Shmuel Ben-Tovim 11/12/2019 As surprising as it may be, this is the first production of Jules Massenet’s Manon for the Israeli Opera. There were many bright spots in this product...
The Passenger Shmuel Ben-Tovim 10/05/2019 Reviewing The Passenger is a very unusual and challenging task. An opera that brings to life the very dark days of Europe during WWII is performed in ...
Tosca Shmuel Ben-Tovim 03/04/2019 119 years after the great success of the opening night of Tosca in Rome, the audience in Tel Aviv was privileged to share a very similar experience. F...
Un Ballo in Maschera Shmuel Ben-Tovim 13/02/2019 This is one of Verdi's most neglected of his great operas. However, this production makes the case well for reviving Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ba...
Salomé Shmuel Ben-Tovim 14/01/2019 In 2014 pianist András Schiff wrote: “What is it with directors? Why is it that most directors find it so hard to fade into the background and stand i...
Werther Shmuel Ben-Tovim 23/11/2018 When Goethe published The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774 he was criticised as idealizing acts of suicide. Many readers have simplified the message a...
Carmen Shmuel Ben-Tovim 22/07/2018 My most vivid memory of a Carmen goes back to the mid 80’s when I was privileged to watch Zeffirelli’s own production at the Staatsoper Wien with Tere...
Dido And Aeneas Shmuel Ben-Tovim 09/06/2018 There were two prominent precedents set in this production. Firstly, the Rishon le’Zion Symphonic Orchestra, a regular in the pit of the Israeli Opera...
