Iolanta Reviews
Chicago Tribune- Recommended
"...For the most part, Paul Curran's direction, Alan E. Muraoka's scenic design and Driscoll Otto's lighting design put a contemporary sheen on the opera, via naturalistic acting and expressionistic use of multi-colored light and half-light. The moment when the doctor performs his magic on Iolanta was a high point, neon streaks transforming his appearance."
Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended
"...A glorious 126-year-old discovery just happened again. First performed at Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater in 1892 (on a double-bill with The Nutcracker), the one-act Iolanta is the last of eleven operas written by the great Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Running for only one more weekend, this 85-minute Slavic gem, performed in Russian with English supertitles, is impeccably restored for Chicago Opera Theater by stage director Paul Curran and noted conductor and C.O.T. music director Lidiya Yankovskaya. Gracing Chicago’s Art Moderne-style Studebaker Theater, Iolanta is a gift to anyone who hears it."
Picture This Post- Highly Recommended
"...Led by Yankovskaya, the orchestra's music buoys each character's journey over a short eighty-five minutes. As the cruel, misguided king, Svetlov's mournful bass voice arcs over the room and his rigid accompaniment, the perfect vehicle for his character's arrogance. But the most visually and vocally distinctive moment is that of Ibn-Hakia's monologue, "Dva mira." The confluence of Driscoll Otto's lighting, Jenny Mannis's costumes, Alan Muroaka's spinning set, and, of course, McMurray's resonating bass-baritone instrument is pure magic. And although this is the most other-worldly sequence in the production, it is an argument for the unity of body and mind. The fairy tale that Curran has interpreted from the Tchaikovskys is all the more wonderous for being only slightly beyond our reality."