Irina Lungu, Nicola Alaimo, Vittorio Grigolo, Arturo Chacón-Cruz & Lianna Haroutounian Lead Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège’s 2024-25 Season

The Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Giampaolo Bisanti conducting a production by Thaddeus Strassberger. Irina Lungu, Dmitry Korchak, and Simone Piazzola star. Performance Dates: Sept. 13-24, 2024 Leoš Janáček’s “Kát’a Kabanová” will star Anush Hovhannisyan, Anton Rositskiy, Nino Surguladze, Sergei Skorokhodov, Jana Kurucová, Dmitry Cheblykov, {…}

Mar 20, 2024

Benjamin Bernheim, Lisette Oropesa, Ludovic Tézier & Asmik Grigorian Lead Opéra de Paris’ 2024-25 Season

The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Verdi’s “Falstaff” opens the season with a cast that includes Ambrogio Maestri, Olivia Boen, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Andrei Kymach, Gregory Bonfatti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and Federica Guida. Michael Schønwandt conducts the production by Dominique Pitoiset. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-30, 2024 Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will star Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude {…}

Oct 25, 2023

Luca Salsi, Anna Netrebko, Jessica Pratt, Lawrence Brownlee & Benjamin Bernheim Lead LaScalaTV’s 2024 Season

The Teatro alla Scala has announced its streaming schedule for La ScalaTV in 2024. The company will begin its streaming season with Filarmonica della Scala’s concert conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. Streaming Date: Jan. 2024 The following stream will be “Simon Boccanegra” starring Luca Salsi, Ain Anger, and Roberto De Candia. Streaming Date: Feb. 2024 Benjamin Britten’s ‘The Little Sweep” will {…}

Sep 3, 2023

Sonya Yoncheva, Leo Nucci, Ambrogio Maestri, Sydney Mancasola, Antonino Siragusa Headline Royal Opera Muscat’s 2023-24 Season

The Royal Opera House Muscat has unveiled its 2023-24 season. Here is the rundown of the classical vocal performances on offer. First up is “The Barber of Seville” with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and the Intermezzo Choir under the musical direction of Antonino Fogliani. The opera stars Antonino Siragusa as Conte d’Almaviva, Carlo Lepore as Dr. Bartolo, Nicola {…}

Aug 27, 2023

Wiener Staatsoper Announces Cast Change for ‘Il Trittico’

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced a cast change for October dates of Puccini’s “Il Trittico.” The company said that Michael Volle will sing the role of Michele in “Il Tabarro” instead of Carlos Álvarez while Ambrogio Maestri will sing the title role in “Gianni Schicchi” instead of Álvarez. Volle will join a cast that includes Anja Kampe, Joshua Guerrero, and Monika {…}

Mar 5, 2023

Jonas Kaufmann, Saioa Hernández, Lise Davidsen & Sonya Yoncheva Lead Bayerische Staatsoper’s 2023-24 Season

The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2023-24 season. New Productions The first new production of the season will be Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Stefano Montanari conducts the production by Evgeny Titov. The cast will include Huw Montague Rendall, Mattia Olivieri, Elsa Dreisig, Maria Bengtsson, Louise Alder, Konstantin Krimmel, Avery Amereau, and Dorothea Röschmann. Performance Dates: Oct. 30, 2023-July 17, 2024 {…}

Jan 12, 2023

Metropolitan Opera 2022-23 Review: L’Elisir d’Amore

(Credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) Last month the Metropolitan Opera opened its final run of Sonja Frisell’s legendary “Aida” staging. The production, which opened in 1988, remains somewhat of a splendor for its lush and detailed sets. As I noted in my recent review, I have never been the biggest fan of this particular mise-en-scène, but on this revival, {…}

Mar 23, 2022

Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovsky, Benjamin Bernheim & Anja Harteros Lead Opernhaus Zürich’s 2022-23 Season

The Opernhaus Zürich has announced its 2022-23 season with 12 new productions and numerous revivals. Premieres Eric Cutler, Christof Fischesser, Tomasz Konieczny, Katie van Kooten, Patricia Bardon, and Camilla Nylund star in Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” The new production by Andreas Homoki will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Performance Dates: Sept. 18-Oct. 29, 2022 Offenbach’s “Barkouf” will see Jérémie Rhorer conduct the {…}

Jan 27, 2022

Saioa Hernández Leads Berlin State Opera’s ‘Tosca’

The Berlin State Opera is set to revive a production of Puccini’s “Tosca.” The production by director Alvis Hermanis will see Saioa Hernández take her acclaimed interpretation of the title role and will be joined by Fabio Sartori as Cavaradossi. Ambrogio Maestri rounds out the cast as the villainous Scarpia and Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts all but the final performance. Julien {…}

Jan 24, 2022

Royal Opera House Muscat 2022 Review: Rigoletto

On Jan. 22, the Royal Opera House Muscat presented its final performance of “Rigoletto.” On this evening, the opening cast returned in Franco Zeffirelli’s final production. The result was a performance filled with excellent singing that sometimes lacked drama and felt disconnected from the glorious production. A Return to Old Times Ambrogio Maestri led the cast singing the title role. {…}

Dec 14, 2021

Jonas Kaufmann, Maria Agresta, Annalisa Stroppa & Ambrogio Maestri Lead Free Streams From Semperoper Dresden

(© Semperoper Dresden/Matthias Creutziger) The Semperoper Dresden has announced that it will stream the 2016 double-bill production of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.” The operas star Maria Agresta, Liudmyla Monastyrska, Annalisa Stroppa, Stefania Toczyska, Tansel Akzeybek, Alessio Arduini, Jonas Kaufmann, Ambrogio Maestri and Dimitri Platanias. Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden. This Unitel recording is made available in collaboration {…}