Two new operas have had premieres in California lately, to mixed reviews, at best.
Los Angeles Opera's The Fly, based on the 1958 Vincent Price film, generally got swatted by critics, who found it surprisingly monotonous or even "a stillborn etude in boredom."
San Francisco Opera's The Bonesetter's Daughter, based on the Amy Tan novel, fared better. One critic called it "a potent addition to the operatic repertoire," but another thought that the "mystical dimension was overblown" (registration required).
I'm always glad to see new operas get a chance, though. It's such an expensive thing to produce that it takes considerable chutzpah to shake things up.
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