Photo credit: Raftermen “Toi toi toi, y’all,” intones the attractive, Southern-inflected t-shirt at The Atlanta Opera’s pop-up gift shop. An apt tagline for a company having outgrown regional status, still honoring its roots in this de facto capital of the American South. Like Atlanta—now the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States, having recently edged past Philadelphia and {…}
The Atlanta Opera is set to present Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The opera will be presented at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre between March 2 and March 10 with a live stream on March 8. The production will be directed by Bruno Baker and will be conducted by Louis Lohraseb. The cast will include Sir Iestyn Davies, {…}
Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton Normally, ‘heritage’ productions make me nervous. The established stagings summon to mind lumbering Zeffirelli-esque spectacles and unwieldy, moth-eaten costumes. Opera houses resting on their artistic laurels, unwilling take artistic risks. The ingrained conservatism in the opera business that could even prove fatal for the art form. But, Peter Hall’s production of Benjamin {…}
Opera Zuid is set to present a new production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The production will be directed by Ola Mafaalani, who makes her debut with Opera Zuid and will be conducted by Karel Deseure, a familiar face at Opera Zuid. The production will star Jan Wouters, Kristina Bitenc, Dreya Weber, Quirijn de Lang, Eva Kroon, Jeroen de Vaal, Ed Ballard, Leonie {…}
(Credit: Opera Australia official website) Celebrated Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky has died at the age of 75. Moshinsky graduated from the University of Melbourne and made his operatic debut in 1975 at the Royal Opera House with a production of Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes.” The famed director went on to stage a number of highly successful productions at the {…}
The Santa Fe Opera announced a digital initiative exploring the literary works behind the operas planned for its 2021 Festival Season. Consider the Source Conversations and Seminars start January 19 and run through May 20. The Consider the Source Conversations are free and premiere on the opera’s YouTube channel on January 19, February 16, March 16, April 20, and May {…}
The Royal College of Music (RCM) announced additional details about its upcoming two-part series, Opera Scenes. RCM selected works from across the repertoire that touch on themes of isolation, separation, and resolution. The premiere of Opera Scenes will stream on the College’s YouTube channel and Facebook page on Nov. 27 and 28 at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. The Nov. {…}
(Credits: Sonya Garza / Monarca Studios / Yan Bleney / Yan Bleney / Marco Borggreve) The Santa Fe Opera has announced its 2021 season, which will run from July 10 through August 27, 2021. The opera house will present 30 performances of four operas, and a special concert featuring soprano Angel Blue. “The pandemic has been tragic and it’s not {…}
(Credit: Opus 3 Artists official website) The Office of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has announced the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020. Among those honored was General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Donald Cameron Runnicles, who has been bestowed with the title of the Knights Bachelor, for services to Music. Donald Runnicles is concurrently the General Music Director {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / Rachelle Durkin official website) The Adelaide Festival has announced the centerpiece of its 2021 Edition. Benjamin Britten’s operatic masterwork “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will make its Australian debut at the festival. The opera will star countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen in the role of Oberon; soprano Rachelle Durkin as Tytania; soprano Taryn Fiebig in the role of {…}
(Credit: Deutsche Oper Berlin/Bettina Stöß) Based on a comedy by William Shakespeare, Britten and Pears’ “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” had its world premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival on June 11, 1960, with the composer conducting. Britten and Pears tried to bring Shakespeare’s magical world onstage both as a play and as a vocal piece. Alas, the opera has since struggled {…}