Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in Belgium has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the vocal works only. Here is the full slate. Opera Verdi‘s “La Forza del Destino” will star Marcelo Álvarez as Don Alvaro, María José Siri as Donna Leonora, and Simone Piazzola as Don Carlo di Vargas. The cast also {…}
For the 23rd straight week, the Metropolitan Opera will be presenting nightly streams. This week’s selections featuring more major works from the standard repertory with a couple of rare treats mixed in. Major opera stars like Anna Netrebko, Aprile Millo, Plácido Domingo, Renata Scotto, Luciano Pavarotti, and Kathleen Battle will be among the major headliners. Monday, August 17 – Puccini’s {…}
The Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege has announced its 2019-20 season featuring nine operas, six of which are new productions. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” opens the season in a new production by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera. Two casts will be led under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, featuring Svetlana Aksenova and Yasko Sato sharing the title role, Alexey Dolgov and Dominick Chenes {…}
The Washington National Opera is set to present Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” for the first time in 30 years. The company will revive Robert Carsen’s classic production, originally created for the Metropolitan Opera. In the lead roles, the company has lined up two Bolshoi Opera singers. In the title role, baritone Igor Golovatenko will make his American and WNO debut and {…}
This review was written by David & Francisco Salazar for the performance on Jan. 24, 2019. With the double bill of “Iolanta” and “Bluebeard’s Castle,” director Mariusz Trelinski sought to explore how the search for vision could lead to growth but inversely lead to darker truths and self-destruction. When his production returned to the Met Opera on Thursday, Jan. 24, {…}
Matthew Poelnzani has canceled the opening night performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta.” The tenor announced via social media that he was ill and therefore would have to cancel. “I am sorry to let you know that I have to cancel tonight’s performance of Iolanta at the Met due to illness,” he said. “I wish all of my colleagues a beautiful opening and {…}
This week, two acclaimed productions come to DVD from Europe, while a world premiere recording of a rarely performed work comes to the fore. Here is a look. Così Fan Tutte Corrine Winters, Daniel Behle, Alessio Arduini, Sabina Puertolas, Angela Brower, and Johannes Martin Kranzleheadline headline a new production of Mozart’s final Da Ponte opera directed by Jan Philipp Gloger. {…}
Anna Netrebko graces the small screen on August 13, 2017, as PBS showcases Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” on Great Performances. The soprano received rave reviews when the production was revived in the spring. OperaWire noted, “Netrebko’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterwork was an in-your-face reminder that she is singular among modern opera’s elite superstars.” The diva is joined by Peter Mattei in {…}
Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” opens with a conversation between Madame Larina and Filippyevna remarking on arranged marriages and their overall lack of choice in the matter. A few scenes later, Filippyevna jokingly informs her beloved Tatiana that in her old times, the thought of love was nonsense for a young girl and then narrates her marriage at age 13 or 14 {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced the second half of its 2016-17 season, which kicks off in January with the 30th anniversary of John Adams’ “Nixon in China.” The opera originally made its world premiere with Houston Grand back in 1987, though this new production is slated to play up the media and technology themes of modern-day. The opera, which {…}