(Photo: Karpati & Zarewicz) Polish baritone Artur Ruciński is one of those artists for whom opera has never been merely a display of vocal mastery. For more than 25 years, he has built an extensive Verdi repertoire, returning to its great roles with fresh eyes each time. In Madrid, where Ruciński is performing Count di Luna in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il {…}
(Photo: Nicole Austin) Opera has long carried a reputation for exclusivity, an art form perceived as belonging to concert halls and formal dress rather than community rooms and public library shelves. Tanisha Mitchell has spent years working against that perception, building a platform that treats opera not as a rarefied pursuit but as a living tradition worth sharing anywhere an {…}
In 1888 Umberto Giordano, composer of famous verismo operas “Andrea Chenier” and “Fedora,” wrote a single act opera with which to enter a competition. Despite its moderate success, the opera was quickly forgotten and was lost to the archives. In February of this year, the unearthed opera, “Marina,” was recorded live at Milan’s Teatro Dal Verme, conducted by Vincenzo Milletarì {…}
Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade spent decades among the most celebrated singers of her generation, performing on the world’s leading stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. Though she stepped back from full time performing in 2010, retirement {…}
Elena Moșuc has been singing for 36 years, having made her debut in 1990 before making her Zürich Opera House in 1991. It was there that she built the foundation of a career defined by coloratura roles and the light lyric repertoire of the Bel Canto tradition, establishing herself among the leading interpreters of that style on stages across Europe. {…}
(Photo: Steven Harris) Lisette Oropesa is a widely acclaimed lyric coloratura soprano who is one of the most in-demand artists on the world’s stages. Her expansive repertoire includes Gluck, Händel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Bellini and Puccini, among others. She has recorded a continuously expanding discography of studio albums, live recitals, and opera films. Operawire caught up {…}
James Conlon has spent more than five decades at the center of the operatic and symphonic worlds, building one of the most expansive conducting careers of his generation. A New Yorker by birth and formation, he rose quickly through the ranks of major opera houses and orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic, logging some 20 years of full-time residence {…}
Cooper Bott is heading to Northwestern University this fall, and he is arriving with some hardware in tow. The baritone from Marengo, Iowa recently took First Place at the Fifth Annual Schmidt Vocal Arts National Vocal Competition, held May 30 and 31 at the Sarasota Opera House in Sarasota, Florida. Bott earned the top prize of $10,000 after performing a {…}
(Credit: Juan Carlos Blanco Olea) Barno Ismatullaeva is a rising star in the opera world. Born in Andijan, Uzbekistan, she studied at the State Conservatory in Tashkent and went on to join the Alisher Navoi Opera House in Tashkent as a permanent ensemble member shortly after graduation. In 2017, she participated in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition {…}
Today’s guest is soprano Julia Muzychenko-Greenhalgh, a representative of a new generation of opera artists and the winner of numerous prestigious international competitions, including First Prize and the Audience Award at Ópera de Tenerife in Spain, as well as the Grand Prix at the Jacques Offenbach International Competition and the Verdi Voices Competition. She is currently appearing as Juliette at {…}
(Photo Credit: Olivia Kahler) What does it take to turn a gifted young musician into a first-rate opera singer? Not just a talented performer, but one who knows her craft and can sustain the life that comes with it? To find out, I spoke with Carrie-Ann Matheson, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Opera Center, a performing pianist, leadership coach, {…}