Spanish soprano Sabina Puértolas was scheduled to perform a single show of “Il Turco in Italia” on June 2, 2023, with cast A, but because of the cancellation of soprano Lisette Oropesa, she wound up singing back-to-back performances on June 1 and 2. Struggling Singers She has a lirico-leggera voice, marked vibrato, modest volume but a present middle register. The {…}
(Photo: ©António Pedro Ferreira) An exciting production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” closed the 2022-23 season of Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos this past week, bringing a fitting conclusion on a high note to the challenging tenure of Elisabete Matos as the Artistic Director of Portugal’s premier opera house. Rendered in a lively staging by Stefano Vizioli, Maestro António Pirolli {…}
(Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) Whether you like Barrie Kosky’s stagings or not, they always have an enormous presence. Think of the Marlene Dietrich-inspired gorilla suit in his “Carmen” for the Royal Opera House, the inflatable Beckmesser caricature in the Nuremberg trial “Meistersinger”, or the eerie sea of ash and candles in his “Saul” for Glyndebourne. The latter, highly acclaimed, meant {…}
Photo: Michele Crosera In 1707, Händel arrived in Rome and soon made the acquaintance of important members of the papacy, including Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj, from whom he received his first major libretto, “Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno.” Because public performances of operas in Rome had been forbidden by papal ban in 1703, Handel made this an oratorio. Although {…}
(Photo: Marc Brenner) “Tristan und Isolde” isn’t an opera generally known for its laughs. Indeed, sniggers from the audience generally indicates that something has gone drastically wrong in the direction department with this particular work. But in the this new production from Grange Park Opera, just outside of London, a sprinkling of giggles and smiles are testament to the zippy {…}
The Spanish opera coliseum presented a new production of Rossini’s opera buffa, “Il turco in Italia,” signed by Laurent Pelly. There were two different casts and three different sopranos for the leading role, performing in the ten performances planned. But superstar Lisette Oropesa, was sick and had to cancel opening night. In this case, the fantastic Spanish soprano, Sara Blanch, {…}
(Photo Credit: Miguel Lorenzo/Mikel Ponce) Valencia closed its 2022-23 season with Verdi’s “Ernani.” The success of their proposal relied on a strong cast, a non-provocative production, and the ardent labour of the young Italian conductor Michele Spotti in the pit. The production, directed by Andrea Bernard, was a co-production with Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The stage simulated a landscape {…}
Credit: San Francisco Opera On June 4, a Sunday afternoon, everyone was high with anticipation. David Hockney‘s production of R. Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten” was opening at San Francisco Opera. Since its American premiere in 1959, the work had only been rarely mounted in San Francisco (five times since 1959), or in other houses, in Paris or Vienna, or {…}
(Photo credit: Ⓒ-Clärchen and Matthias Baus) Something in the Zeitgeist tells us that the old saying “Dreaming is free” is no longer true. If the box-office bomb “Babylon” explored how much the Hollywood dream can cost, and it costs a lot, both in the film and in the box-office. Philipp Stölzl and Philipp M. Krenn’s take on Dvorak’s “Rusalka” follows {…}