Joy tinged with melancholy greeted the opening of Festival O23. Joy because it was a full-scale return of this greatly anticipated event by Opera Philadelphia, which since its inception in 2018 has been a definitive mission for the company in establishing it as one of the leading lights among American companies for vision, innovation, and supporting new work.
The melancholy is due to the recent announcement that David Devan—who since 2011 has been Opera Philadelphia’s General Director, and a major force in the vision behind Festival O—will be leaving the company in June 2024. Effectively, this is the last Festival O he will oversee.
Yet just as the Bible promised, Joy cometh again in the morning. Okay, to be more precise, it came at 8:30pm on Thursday, September 21st at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater…
Click here to read the full review at Parterre Box.
Categories: Criticism, Music, PARTERRE BOX, Philadelphia
reclining standards 