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    The Review Is In

    Women at war: With a chilling Mary Stuart, HGO pulls off a show-stopping seasonender

    Theodore Bale
    Apr 22, 2012 | 11:15 pm
    • A scene from the Houston Grand Opera's Mary Stuart with Katie Von Kooten asQueen Elizabeth and Robert Gleadow as Talbot
      Photo by Felix Sanchez
    • Joyce DiDonato is quite miraculous as Mary Stuart.
      Photo by Felix Sanchez

    Last week on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta, Marlo Hampton calmly told Kim Zolciak, “You are a whore.” It was her matter-of-fact tone, perhaps, that made the insult so chilling.

    Saturday night at Houston Grand Opera, however, there was more convincing episode of woman-to-woman shade and furor. Mary Stuart called her cousin and political rival Queen Elizabeth I an “unworthy whore” and a “foul usurper,” and it was the emphatic vocalism and genuine, impassioned disgust that made the slur as shocking as it must have been in 1835, when Donizetti’s opera premiered at La Scala.

    Ah, if only today’s television aspiring divas would pay more attention to their operatic forebears!

     

      Houston Grand Opera has really pulled out the stops for its final production of the current season, and done so with utmost sophistication. 

    Delivering an earth-shattering insult is so much more than just putting on a pricey pair of Louboutins and talking the talk. The second act of Mary Stuart is filled with an intricate web of confrontation, rich language and staggering emotions, even if the meeting between these two women existed only in the imagination of Friedrich Schiller, the German poet whose story is the basis for Giuseppe Bardari’s (and, at times, Donizetti’s own) fascinating libretto.

    Mary reluctantly begs forgiveness. A wary Elizabeth replies, “It is fitting where you are, in the dust and in the shame!” And then they’re off: Elizabeth makes a little list of Mary’s transgressions and betrayals, and by the end of the duet, Mary has not only accused Elizabeth of being “the unchaste daughter of Anne Boleyn” (ouch), but even “a vile bastard.”

    If I’m using the character names rather than those of the singers, it’s because the episode, for me the high point of Saturday night’s opera, was so convincing it was hard to believe it was “just” a performance. Houston Grand Opera has really pulled out the stops for its final production of the current season, and done so with utmost sophistication. A histrionic work like Maria Stuarda requires a certain artistic discretion, and this version (with scenery, props, and costumes from The Minnesota Opera) is classy and entirely convincing.

    Musically, it’s not a masterpiece the caliber of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, seen at HGO last year. But if one listens more closely, the opera is filled with extraordinary ensemble writing, lavish duets, rich choral passages and more than a few glorious arias for the title character.

    Which brings me to Joyce DiDonato, well-loved here in Houston and quite miraculous as Mary Stuart, deposed Queen of Scotland. One can’t open a copy of Opera News these days without reading something about DiDonato, and I’ve heard that the bel canto repertory (often centered on Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti) is really her thing.

    It’s true. She is stunning in the part, making something very great out of each and every phrase.

     

      This is, after all, a tragic opera, and  DiDonato demonstrated why with brilliant conviction.

    DiDonato is a mezzo-soprano, and the first thing to glow over in this Maria Stuarda is her brilliant range. She really gives attention to the lower notes, which are golden and resonant, almost jewel-like. The phrasing is smooth and well-connected. At the same time, she doesn’t belabor the arias, providing instead a kind of lightness more characteristic of Donizetti.

    She doesn’t turn the part into “grand” opera, even if she brings grandeur to the role.

    Vocally as well, the part requires a great deal of ornamentation, and DiDonato is remarkably agile throughout the entire opera. A lazier mezzo would likely slur her way through certain passages, but this never happened. I found myself admiring the singing just as pure musical, even aside from the emotional content.

    Perhaps the thing that stunned me the most was her quiet intensity in certain arias sung pianissimo, yet ringing clear as a bell in the large theater. I never struggled to hear her, and the orchestra never dominated even her most subtle phrases. In the final scene depicting her ascent to the scaffold, it’s hard not to be moved deeply when she sings, “May my innocent blood, when shed, placate the anger of enraged heaven.”

    This is, after all, a tragic opera, and DiDonato demonstrated why with brilliant conviction.

     A Worthy Opponent

    A great Mary requires an equally great Queen Elizabeth, and young American soprano Katie Van Kooten is nothing short of a sensation. It’s hard to imagine that Donizetti did not take a certain guilty pleasure in writing for this odd pairing of characters, namely, two competing queens on the same stage.

    From her striking entrance raised high on a podium in the first scene, it was clear that Van Kooten was confident, in great voice, and ready to reign. Hers is a large, powerful voice, perhaps more suited to grand opera than bel canto, but it seemed right for this part.

    Something in her intonation revealed perfection, and her pitch never wavered from being right on the mark. She “got” the problematic character, as well. Early on, she exclaims “Be silent!” to the courtiers, and it’s a thundering fortissimo, which makes for an appealing paradox.

    You think to yourself, “I wouldn’t mess with her,” and this is a good indication that she has an exciting singing career ahead of her.

    As I write this review, I’m listening to a recording of Maria Stuarda with Joan Sutherland in the title role and the celebrated Richard Bonynge conducting. To some ears, it would be considered “definitive” though I’m not sure if it was made according to the Wiklund “critical edition” of the score used by Houston Grand Opera for these performances.

    Sutherland sounds good enough, but does she have the compelling subtlety of DiDonato? I think not. However, Luciano Pavarotti as Roberto, Earl of Leicester, makes me aware of something missing from the HGO performance: A great tenor.

    American tenor Eric Cutler seems a capable enough artist for the role, though his singing throughout had a strange nasal quality, as if he might have been suffering from the allergy problems so common during the Texas spring weather. It could have been forgiven if his acting had been a little more engaged, but it wasn’t. Let’s hope he was just having an off night.

    Robert Gleadow, however, is a fine actor and his resonant baritone was perfect for the challenging role of Talbot. Fans will remember his appealing interpretation of Truffaldino in last year’s Ariadne auf Naxos. More excellence came Saturday night, as well, with mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin, who gives a stalwart and praiseworthy performance as Anne.

     Houston Grand Opera will perform Mary Stuart on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., May 2 at 7:30 p.m. and May 4 at 7:30 p.m.

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    Best July Art

    Where to see art in Houston now: 9 fun new exhibits opening in July

    Tarra Gaines
    Jul 9, 2025 | 4:30 pm
    ​Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"
    Photo courtesy of Artechouse
    Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"

    Art blooms in our world class museums but also on our city streets this July. From exhibitions featuring traditional paintings and sculptures to high tech immersive and interactive shows, we’re weaving art into the best of summertime fun and dreaming up beautiful new artistic creations all over Houston.

    “Town Meeting 1978-2028” at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    Pioneering Houston-based interdisciplinary artists Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin continue their decades-long project to create new and sometimes monumental artworks in response to little-known pre-Stonewall queer histories. For this latest exhibition, the duo explore a more recent and influential piece of Houston history, “Town Meeting I,” the pivotal convening of 4,000 LGBTQIA+ Houstonians at the Astro Arena in 1978. For this show at Art League, they’ve used their “wind drawing” technique of stenciling unfixed charcoal powder on paper and blowing it away, leaving a ghost-image. Using archival images of “Town Meeting I” as the bases of their stenciling, the finished “wind drawings” highlight the ephemerality, beauty, and loss of queer histories. In addition to these new works, Vaughan and Margolin hope to inspire, facilitate, and develop programming in 2028 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Town Meeting 1.”

    “Fragmentos de un sueño que yo también soñé (Fragments of a Dream I Also Dreamed)" at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    “Every house is a body, and every individual body is a house full of memories and hopes,” says award-winning Venezuela born, Chicago-based artist, Jeffly Gabriela Molina, of her artistic focus. Molina’s fragmented, layered, and figural compositions explore that idea of home and memories. Delving into memories and stories, these figurative compositions, depicting people and relationships, fluctuate between stories of the present, past, and future. Taken together, the works in “Fragmentos de un sueño” aim to visually capture the feelings of vulnerability, nostalgia, and hope embedded in the experience of many immigrants. Art League notes that Molina’s pieces emphasize optimism over hardship, specifically addressing the longing for a home that no longer exists while striving to create a new one.

    “Every Fiber of Their Bodies” at Art League Houston (now through July 20)
    Working with natural fibers such as linen, paper collage, and hand-spun paper yarn made from calligraphy paper and book pages, textile artist Lin Qiqing weaves stories ofhuman relationships, gender, immigration, and language. As the title hints, the labor-intensive weaving process brings thematic depth to the images of bodies depicted in the pieces. The woven pieces also make connections to the natural world, as when Lin crumples then smooths handmade mulberry paper to resemble human skin, or when she uses handwoven fiber to mimic the body’s movement. Lin process includes research and experimenting with natural materials to explore themes of the internal human struggle for existence and our interactions with the world around us.

    “Annual Juried Exhibition” at Archway Gallery (now through July 31)
    For the 17th year, the artist owned Archway Gallery celebrates Houston artists with its juried exhibition of area artists who are not members of the space. This year’s exhibition is juried by Project Row Houses founder and MacArthur "genius" fellow, Rick Lowe. The acclaimed artist and social activist has selected work from over 35 area artists representing a diversity of medium and styles. Sales from the exhibition will go to Houston’s Brave Little Company, the theater company for Houston’s kids and their gown ups.

    “Foyer Installation: René Magritte” at Menil Collection (now through August 3)
    After a critically acclaimed trip to Australia, some of our favorite Belgian-born Houstonians are back home. Yes, the Magritte paintings have returned to the Menil Collection after taking a star turn in a monumental Magritte retrospective at Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales. Now the Menil is celebrating their return with a special installation in the main building foyer. The Menil Collection owns the largest collection of work by René Magritte outside the artist’s native Belgium, and this display focuses on a core group of paintings from the 1950s and ’60s that truly represent Magritte’s status as a master creator of impossible painted worlds and an icon of the Surrealist movement. The paintings were purchased within a couple years of their making by the museum’s founders, John and Dominique de Menil. They represent and important part of 20th century art history, as the de Menils became Magritte’s biggest champions in the United States, helping to shape the artist’s reception and reputation in the postwar American art world. Stop by to welcome them home and slip into their enigmatic wonder.

    “Blooming Wonders” at Artechouse (now through September)
    The latest immersive exhibition from the Houston venue that brings art, science, and technology home together, Artechouse, lets the flowers blossom. The exhibition contains several dynamic installations, including “Timeless Butterflies,” a 270 degrees projection space that puts visitors in the middle of a butterfly cloud. Audiences journey with a flock of butterflies into an immense garden of flowers. Another immersive piece, “Infinite Blooms” takes audiences on a journey through an endless digital forest of cherry blossoms. The installation, “Akousmaflore et Lux” creates a very different type of garden where plants transform into musical instruments. “Clay Pillar” by Interactive Items / Vadim Mirgorodskii invites visitors to sculpt new forms using clay and a little help from an AI program. Note that “Blooming Wonders” runs simultaneously with the rock ‘n’ roll exhibition, “Amplified” with “Wonders” open during the daytime.

    “Weci | Koninut” at Avenida Houston (now through September 1)
    Houston is a place for big dreams, and this wondrous outdoor exhibition near George R. Brown Convention Center gives us the space to do so. Created by First Nations artists Julie-Christina Picher and Dave Jenniss, this interactive installation weaves together visual arts, Indigenous storytelling and sensory technologies in the form of six immense sculptural dreamcatchers. Each of these dreamcatchers are unique and represent one of the six seasons from the Atikamekw culture, an Indigenous people in Canada. Activated by people passing by, the dreamcatchers come to life with lights, sounds, and story, making the whole installation truly interactive. “Weci | Koninut” creators say that they want the installation to offer a total immersion experience for visitors, to create a moment where nature and dreams converge. Each piece offers a place for the public to slow down, sit, reflect, and yes, dream.

    New Murals in the East End and Midtown (ongoing)
    We could spend days viewing all the new murals painted across town, just in the last few years. But in honor of summer outdoor art viewing, we thought we’d spotlight two noteworthy new additions to our city-wide gallery of murals. As part of his major exhibition last spring at the CAMH, Vincent Valdez worked with San Antonio muralist Rubio and local students to create “Memoria, Memory.” Dedicated to his mother Theresa Santana Valdez (1947–2020), the vivid mural on historic Navigation Boulevard features her favorite bird and flower. Over in Midtown, check out “Stellar Illumination,” the latest installation in the city’s Big Walls Big Dreams mural series. Created by Robin Munro, also known as Dread, the seven stories high “Illumination” depicts a celestial scene of an astronaut gazing at Earth from space.

    “The Weight of Place” at Anya Tish Gallery (July 11-August 23)
    This group exhibition will explore themes of memory and the emotional, psychological, and physical landscapes memories can evoke. The will showcase three contemporary Texas-based female artists: Megan Harrison, Marisol Valencia, and Lillian Warren. While these artists work in different mediums–including large-scale paintings, mixed media works, and elegant porcelain sculptures–they are inspired by personal reflection and nature to create artworks that reflect on the ways we hold onto the past through sensory experience.

    “In Residence: 18th Edition” at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (July 12-June 27, 2026)
    This annual exhibition celebrating the Center’s Artist Residency Program reaches it’s big 18th anniversary. Over the many years, the residency program has supported so many emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media. The program gives them a space for creative exploration, exchange, and collaboration with other artists, arts professionals, and the public. Now arts and craft lovers will get a chance to see the culmination of that work with this exhibition featuring pieces in fiber, clay, copper, and found objects by 2024-2025 resident artists Prerata Bradley, Stephanie Bursese, Atisha Fordyce, Nela Garzón, Gbenga Komolafe, Gabo Martinez, Preetika Rajgariah, Macon Reed, Jamie Sterling Pitt, Adam Whitney, and Dongyi Wu.

    “My Texas” at Our Texas Cultural Center (July 27-August 22)
    Award winning, Russian-born photographer, Anatoliy Kosterev, chronicles his personal exploration of Texas with photographs he took around the Lone Star State. The photos offer extraordinary views of Texas, from our dynamic cities to dramatic and sometimes lonesome landscapes. Kosterev’s photographic style blends science and technology with an artistic eye. He puts those two perspectives into practice when documenting all facets of life in Texas. Using HDR, drone imaging, macro photography, and traditional camera methods, he captures a diversity of subjects from quiet human moments to vast landscapes to delicate close-ups of insects and flowers.

    \u200bArtechouse presents "Blooming Worlds"
      

    Photo courtesy of Artechouse

    Artechouse presents "Blooming Worlds."

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