![]() But at the sold-out second performance, the mood was especially celebratory. Given that the first two of the season’s four scheduled productions were canceled when three Black members of the company summarily resigned, citing “racial tokenism” and “a culture of misogyny” that have yet to be publicly specified, the company’s future has been in question. The same night as the “Aida” opening, the ever-intrepid Long Beach Opera began its first post-pandemic season with a refashioned Handel rarity, “Giustino,” at the Museum of Latin American Art. Old-school powerhouse voices and a plush production aim to thrill. Continuing through June 12 and including free video relays Saturday night on the Santa Monica Pier, in Newhall Park and at the Pomona Fairplex, this is an “Aida” with a modern look but that’s otherwise reassuring. The third Saturday of May, Los Angeles Opera mounted the last production of its first full season since the pandemic had closed up shop by hosting Verdi’s “Aida” in all its grand-opera glory at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and drew a large crowd in festive attire. Yet opera thrives on risk, inviting excess on stage and off. BA.2.12.1 has arrived B4 waits in the wings. Mask-wearing and other precautions appear to be going nowhere soon. This is hardly the late spring we hoped for. Is it time to take stock? Probably not just yet. ![]() With Memorial Day past, May gray history, night blooming jasmine losing its fragrance and the 2021-22 performance arts season winding up, opera in our little corner of the operaverse is now, for whatever reason, vibrantly in full bloom.
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