LaChiusa's latest, about a Victorian fameball who made it by making it over the Niagara Falls in a barrel, is brilliant

Queen of the Mist is a thrilling work, with pieces for the entire ensemble that swirl around and around, approaching and receding before they burst forth. A lot of the credit goes to Michael Starobin, whose ingenious orchestrations make the six-piece orchestra sound impossibly lush.

But it’s LaChiusa’s numbers for Taylor that are most memorable. "Cradle or Coffin," which she sings while she contemplates what it will be like inside her custom-designed barrel, is as vivid as anything LaChiusa has written. More

By Mark Sullivan

November 7, 2011 2:19 pm