Daybreak’s best of 2013: The year on stage

Daybreak’s annual year in review is one of my favorite things to assemble. This is when we review our clips, search the archives and stand amazed at how much truly amazing art happens here in the region quite regularly.

We cover a lot of ground during the year, as we pored through a year’s worth of arts and entertainment coverage, it became a challenge to fit in all the worthy performances in a given section. Today’s breakdown of the best live stage shows of the year reflects that conundrum: from plays, stand-up and symphonies to Beyonce, Yes and Green Day, there were so many opportunities to take in live art in all its splendid forms, we had to create more than one list to ensure we gave as many performers as possible an encore in these pages.

Over the next week we’ll also offer our picks for best television, restaurants, recorded music, exhibits and more. While we might not all agree on what we’ve deemed the best, one thing is certain: we live in a time and place where art is thriving…

Opera performance of the year: Connecticut Lyric Opera, November 2013

To start its eleventh season, the Connecticut Lyric Opera stepped up, moving past the standard repertoire of Donizetti, Mozart and Puccini to play with one of the big boys: Wagner. The company’s November production of “The Flying Dutchman” was more than a fine evening at the opera, it was a rite of passage. The orchestra was bigger, the stage direction by Andy Ottoson was the company’s finest yet, and the chorus was full of strong voices. All the parts added up perfectly, and in the center of it all was Music Director Adrian Sylveen, who had the audience at the Garde riding wave after wave of Wagner’s complex and relentless score.

– Milton Moore

Read the article at The Day: https://www.theday.com/article/20131222/ENT18/312229986/0/rwd?fbclid=IwAR2QEJAqG59kWITKCEtsxxc0koTyguqanJstolZtSeeOAOYmXBvMG3RjwDg#.UreWeFAo7qA