"Sunday afternoon's superb performance of Benjamin Britten's rarely heard opera The Rape of Lucretia showed how much these artists can accomplish in more out-of-the-way material.

The result was a twofold thrill, offering an introduction to an impressive ensemble of singers as well as the chance to encounter Britten's early chamber work in a deft, theatrically powerful rendition."

Joshua Kosman
San Francisco Chronicle, July 20, 2004



"The Rape of Lucretia, A Problematic Opera Tellingly Rethought"
"The Merola Opera Program's new production directed by Robin Guarino, heard Friday night at San Francisco's Cowell Theater, reverses the cliché, risking lapses into gross sensuality, and certainly avoiding that deadly good taste commonly associated with the classical, yet emerging in triumph."

John Bender
San Francisco Classical Voice

"Exuberant and Somber, Both at Byron's Invitation"
"Robin Guarino found and directed actors who could tread the mountains of damnation with total authority. In particular John Kuether looking fully Byronic, with his dark curls, noble mien and loose white shirt - spoke with tremendous power and beauty throughout the long role. Since he was defying the universe, he certainly scared away any worry that the grand style of acting might have outlived its usefullness. Here was a Manfred, a blasted and burning soul."

Paul Griffiths
New York Times , May 18 2003

"Guarino and scenic designer Conklin, inspired by the muse of Luigi Pirandello, have mined the conflict between appearance and reality to stage the two one-act operas as a single oeuvre, two plays within the rehearsal process for a third work that wavers unpredictably between staged drama and real life. Most of the time it works. This is no Euro-trash production or loose "concept" with gratuitous accretions thrown in. It is carefully thought out and relentlessly pursued to highly theatrical - if at times somewhat disconcerting conclusions. Unwavering traditionalists will probably hate this show, but more adventurous opera-goers will find it absorbing, challenging and the subject of repeated scrutiny."

Stephen Landesman
The Ithaca Journal, July 10, 2002

"Robin Guarino presented the Leoncavallo-Mascagni double bill, on Friday, as episodes in a continuing story, tempered with a touch of Pirandello-like shifting reality. The stories are wound around each other: Pagliacci opens with Turridu and Alfio, from the Mascagni work, miming the finale of "Cavalleria Rusticana". When the Mascagni begins, the characters from "Pagliacci" file in to watch a mimed repeat of the same scene and to reenact their own tragedy, slightly skewed, on the sidelines during Mascagn's orchestral interludes. As provocative as the staging was the real news here was John MacMaster's portrayal of Canio. He summoned up every bit of pathos and violence that the role demands."

Allan Kozinn
The New York Times, July 30th, 2002

"What are summer festivals for if not to put a fresh perspective on classics long dulled by routine. That I suppose, justifies Glimmerglass's unsettling new take on opera's favorite twin Bill, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leon Cavallo's Pagliacci. For starters the traditional order has been reversed, and Pag now precedes Cav, a necessary step in Robin Guarino's rethinking of the two operas and how they relate to one another. In this production the blur between playacting and real life in Pagliacci is extended to Cavalleria as well. The characters of each opera wander freely from one tragedy to another within John Conklin's arena-and-bleachers set while Tonio the clown acts like our Pirandello guide. Its an intriguing approach."

Peter G. Davis
New York Magazine, July 2002



"Pagliacci and Cavalleria overlap in a daring production -A bold directorial rethinking of a double bill of Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" and Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" opened the Glimmerglass Opera's 28th season."

Chuck Klaus
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, July 10, 2002



"Friday nights opening of the new season of Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown presented the classic Italian double-bill of "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci" in boldly imaginative new stagings. That these classics come from the Italian school of verismo, or realism, was finally and fully realized in the bloody murder that ended the night and left the audience gasping"

Joseph Dalton
Times Union, Albany New York, July 7, 2002



"Guarino moves her singers - both principals and chorus members beautifully"

Bill Rice
The Sunday Gazette, Schenectady July 7, 2002



"The Marriage of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana to Pirandello's "Six Characters In Search Of An Author". The Wedding, arranged by Glimmerglasss Opera, was a courageous and brilliant attempt by the director Robin Guarino that had a vibrant reception, thanks to the vocals and the acting."

Jonas Kover
Observer-Dispatch, July 7, 2002

"There have been some smashing debuts at Glimmerglass opera but rarely one as stunning as John MacMaster's in "Pagliacci" Robin Guarino in her directing debut with the Cooperstown company has created a highly intriguing concept, one that energizes the pair of operas. She inter links the two lovelorn tragedies in a Pirandello-esque setting, mounting them in a theatrical setting, complete with audience who also double as characters."

Joan E. Vadeboncoeur
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, July 9, 2002