Plácido Domingo is taking leave of Washington National Opera in a grand way this month, both on the stage as Oreste in a riveting production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride and at the podium.

Washington National Opera has made another significant advance in catching up to the latest trends in opera houses around the world, by staging its first-ever opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787). The new production of Iphigénie en Tauride, which opened on Friday night, turns out to be the best work in an otherwise downsized and somewhat ho-hum season — not only because it is the company’s first Gluck opera and such a beautiful work, but because of a superb cast that proves gripping both musically and dramatically, in a production that is intriguing, stark and far from ordinary.

The Washington National Opera is going to make it through the financial crisis, thanks to being absorbed into the Kennedy Center. It has meant some sacrifices, not least of which is some less adventurous programming this season and next. Such is the company’s latest production of Puccini’s gorgeous but overdone Madama Butterfly, the most often produced opera in North America, according to Opera America.

Washington National Opera’s new production of Salome shows that Richard Strauss’s 1905 shocker can still pack a wallop.

Washington National Opera has had a rough couple of years: the cancellation of its Ring cycle and shortening of its season because of the recession, a rumored merger with the Kennedy Center and the departure of its general director, Plácido Domingo. Even before that, the company’s music director, Heinz Fricke — who had done so much to improve the quality of the Opera Orchestra and conducted so many of its best performances — became ill. Maestro Fricke came less and less often to Washington, and some of the company’s productions languished musically without his much-needed guidance. As rumored this summer and even earlier, Fricke has become music director emeritus, and the man we suspected to be in line to replace him has been officially appointed as new music director.

The news spread quickly last night: after much speculation about Plácido Domingo’s future with Washington National Opera, the legendary tenor announced he would retire as the company’s artistic director at the end of his current contract in June 2011.

Until now, Washingtonians seemed to have avoided the opera crunch. But although Plácido Domingo raised the Washington National Opera‘s profile during his tenure as General Director, the company has been hanging by a thread financially

Ildar Abrdrazakov, Verónica Cangemi, and cast in Le Nozze di Figaro, Washington National Opera (photo by Karin Cooper) When the recession forced Washington National Opera to reconfigure its season, the company turned to some tried and true operas. This was somewhat disappointing, as in the revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess so quickly after its last appearance, but also made more conventionally minded opera fans happy with the return of some old favorites like…

Deborah Voigt as Salome Opera, the extravagant art, tends to flourish in times of financial excess, meaning that the ongoing financial crisis has caused considerable collateral damage to this most expensive art form. In response to the crisis, Washington National Opera drastically cut down and altered the current season, including the regrettable postponement of its American Ring Cycle. While lamentable, the decision was fiscally wise, proven surely by the plight of Los Angeles Opera,…

Photo by Hitchcock Creative The Washington National Opera announced late Monday that it is making significant cuts for the coming season, both in terms of staff and the number of productions it will present. The 2010-11 season will include only five operas, continuing the downward trend from six this season and seven in 2008-09. The company said it is also eliminating eight staff positions, instituting salary freezes, suspending retirement fund contributions, and implementing a…