Italian conductor Sebastiano Rolli is known for his Italian and bel canto repertoire, having conducted all over the world at such theaters as Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Teatro La Fenice, among others. Over the years he has conducted such operas as “L’elisir d’amore,” “Giovanna d’Arco,” “La Cenerentola,” “Torquato Tasso,” “Maria de Rudenz,” {…}
Admired for her dramatic intensity and vocal versatility, mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson is rapidly earning distinction across a wide and varied repertoire. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she was a member of the Opera Studio at Bayerische Staatsoper, later joining their Ensemble between 2015 and 2019. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Ensemble at Staatsoper Stuttgart. {…}
Since 1988, the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute has been a major proponent of lifting up the next generation. Since its inauguration the institute has provided coaching, master classes, and performing opportunities for over 1,700 musicians. This year, the program will host 15 classical vocalists, who will get the spotlight for two weeks with a series of masterclasses with such notable {…}
Andrea Sanguineti is a rising star conductor currently working all over the world and performing a diverse array of repertoire. He was appointed Music Director of the Aalto-Musiktheater and the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra and has also conducted at the Opéra National du Rhin, Opera Zurich, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Landestheater Innsbruck, Teatro Sao Carlos Lisboa, Opéra de Rouen, and Kissinger {…}
(Photo: Roberto Santos-Luy) Having just watched the splendid Irish soprano Amy Ní Fhearraigh, one of Ireland’s rising stars, in her role debut as Donna Anna in Blackwater Valley Opera Festival’s production of “Don Giovanni” as well as being scheduled to review her next role as Cora in the world premiere of Michael Gallen’s award-winning new opera “The Curing Line” at {…}
Italian baritone Mattia Oliveri has become one of the most in-demand singers of his generation performing at major opera houses including the Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Opéra de Paris. He has become renowned for his Italian repertoire in particular the Bel Canto works and has slowly moved into heavier {…}
(Photo: Michael Cockerham) Brenden Gunnell is standing at the threshold of one of opera’s greatest challenges: Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” After building his career through the major heldentenor repertoire, he now sees Tristan not simply as the next role, but as the culmination of years of careful preparation. At the same time, he is championing lesser-known music with the release {…}
Riccardo Frizza, the Musical Director and Artistic Director of the Bergamo Donizetti Opera Festival and Honorary Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, is widely regarded as one of today’s leading conductors, regularly collaborating with the world’s most prestigious opera houses. He has conducted at many of the major theaters in the world Teatro Comunale, Bologna, ABAO Bilbao {…}
(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 {…}