Classical Music Review

To be honest, it is not the best work by Glass (below) I have ever heard, even though it dates from 2002 and is mature Glass that has its appeal. But because the opera has never been recorded or put on DVD or film, it is a terrific choice to stage to mark the composer’s 75thbirthday, which happens to be today—coincidentally, the same day as the hotly contested Florida Republican primary.
Plus, it is the Madison Opera’s first foray into Glass, or into minimalist Opera for that matter – a brave move that deserves to be praised and repeated perhaps with other Glass works or maybe something by John Adams.
But that is just one way in which this production of “Galileo,” which I saw Sunday afternoon, has proved timely.

It also was a success in that it marked four successive years of sold-out mid-winter performances for operas done in smaller venues of the Overture Center like The Playhouse and Promenade Hall. Previously, the Madison Opera staged Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land,” Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” (below) andKurt Weill‘s “Threepenny Opera.”
Clearly, there is a market for the smaller, less common works. It would seem these smaller and more experimental winter productions are here to stay, and I applaud that heartily. I can’t wait to see what the next season brings.