Soraya Mafi, Daisy Brown, Robert Hayward & Roland Wood Lead Opera North’s 2024-25 Season

Opera North has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with Claire Lees, Soraya Mafi, Egor Zhuravskii, Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, Anna Dennis, Msimelelo Mbali, Justin Hopkins, Emyr Wyn Jones, Pasquale Orchard, Colin Judson, and Andri Björn Róbertsson. Christoph Koncz, Patrick Lange, and Emilia Hoving share the podium and James Brining directs. Performance Dates: Sept. 27, {…}

Dec 13, 2023

Metropolitan Opera 2023-24 Review: The Magic Flute

Photo: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera This year’s season opener of the Met’s “The Magic Flute,” on December 8th, 2023, was another high-energy holiday extravaganza. The family-friendly annual production by Julie Taymor was a familiar favorite to many; its rich fantasy world of magical symbolism dazzled and delivered. However, what set the bar for this year’s production apart from others, {…}

Oct 3, 2023

Omer Meir Wellber Lead Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s ‘Die Walküre’

(credit: Luca Pezzani) On Oct. 6, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to present the first act of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” in concert form. The concert will mark the debut of Omer Meir Wellber with the company. The concert will be broadcast on Radio3 Rai. The concert will feature Stanislas de Barbeyrac who makes his role debut as Siegmund, {…}

May 30, 2023

Royal Opera House 2022-23 Review: Wozzeck

Photo: Tristram Kenton Expectations were high for Deborah Warner’s new production of Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” at the Royal Opera House. Warner’s acclaimed treatment of “Peter Grimes” saw her in similar territory—indeed, the debt owed to Berg’s score by Britten is considerable—in a pair of twentieth-century operas about alienated outsiders, disturbed by the very society that despises them. Both pieces are {…}

May 24, 2023

Bryan Register, Anush Hovhannisyan & Emily D’Angelo Lead Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España’s 2023-24 Season

The Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España has announced its 2023-24 season. Here are the vocal performances. David Afkham opens the season with Rachmaninoff and Elgar. Soloists include Frank Peter Zimmermann, Anush Hovhannisyan, Pavel Petrov, and Anatoli Sivko. Performance Dates: Sept. 22-24, 2023 Juanjo Mena conducts Brindley Sherratt in a program of music by Mussorgsky, Inés Badalo, and Tchaikovsky. Performance {…}

Mar 10, 2023

Brindley Sherratt Weighs in on BBC Singers Getting the Axe

Photo: Gerard Collett In a heartfelt article published by The Guardian, renowned bass Brindley Sherratt expressed his disappointment over the BBC’s decision to dismantle the BBC Singers. Sherratt, who spent 13 years with the group, described his experience as nothing short of exceptional and praised the supreme level of musicianship he encountered while singing with the ensemble. “The audition was {…}

Jul 23, 2022

Eleonora Buratto, Aleksandra Kurzak, Luca Salsi & Anna Caterina Antonacci Lead Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s 2022-23 Season

The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced its 2022-23 Season. Emma Dante conducts Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmelites” with Michele Mariotti conducting. Corinne Winters stars alongside Anna Caterina Antonacci, Ewa Vesin, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Jean-François Lapointe. The opera will be transmitted live on Rai Cultura and Rai5. Performance Dates: Nov. 27-Dec. 6, 2022 Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” will be conducted by Francesco {…}

Jul 14, 2022

Sarasota Opera Announces 2022 Summer Movie Series

Editorial Note: There have been a few updates made to the schedule. They are indicated in the article as updates. The remainder of the article remains as originally published on April 27, 2022. Sarasota Opera is set to present a summer movies series starting on May 22, 2022. The company will kick the series off with the Royal Opera House’s {…}

Jul 4, 2022

Opera North 2022 Review: Parsifal

(Photo: Mark Allan) Last time Opera North visited London’s Southbank Centre it was for an award-winning semi-staged Ring cycle, conducted by then music director Richard Farnes. They even made a gripping and hugely instructive recording for YouTube that shows the entire tetralogy from a camera placed right in front of the conductor. He returns to the Royal Festival Hall with {…}

Feb 11, 2022

Brindley Sherratt Organizes Fundraising Concert for The Meath Epilepsy Char

Opera singer Brindley Sherratt and his family have announced a special concert in aid of The Meath Epilepsy Charity. The concert, which was postponed from April 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, will feature a host of world-renowned singers at Glyndebourne Opera House on April 10, 2022. Brindley’s daughter Amy is 31-years-old and has a rare metabolic disorder, learning difficulties, {…}

Dec 10, 2021

Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča, Luca Salsi, Lisette Oropesa, Elena Stikhina, Asmik Grigorian Lead Salzburg Festival’s 2022 Season

(Credit: Anne Zeuner) The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2022 season, featuring eight operas, concerts, and international opera stars. For the purpose of this article we will focus on the vocal works only. Operas The season opens with Romeo Castellucci’s production of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The opera stars Mika Kares and Aušrinė Stundytė in the lead roles, alongside soprano {…}