(Photo: Semperoper/Ludwig Olah) The almost 800-year-old conflict on the Iberian Peninsular between the Spanish and the Moorish invaders gave rise to many stories of heroism, love and bloodshed. While some were based on fact, others were simply romantic embellishments or complete fabrications. One such tale of questionable authenticity concerns Rahel, the Jewish mistress of the King of Castile, Alfonso VIII. {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will experience albums from some of the top divas in the opera world as well as Christmas albums that will be great for the holiday season. Essence Marina Rebeka releases a new album on Prima Classic. The soprano sings a selection {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Puccini’s “La Bohème” for 18 performances in the fall and winter. The opera, which is set to run between Oct. 10 and Jan. 13, will first star Federica Lombardi in the lead role alongside Matthew Polenzani, Olga Kulchynska, and Adam Plachetka. The cast also includes Sean Michael Plumb in his Met role debut as {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) Boston Baroque opens its season with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 alongside his “Coriolan” Overture and “Elegiac Song.” The performances will take place on Oct. 13, 14, and 15 at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, GBH’s Calderwood Studio in Brighton, and NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston. The Oct. 15 performance will also be live streamed on the global streaming {…}
(Credit: Lawrence Morton) San Francisco Opera has announced the program for its 100th Anniversary Concert at the War Memorial Opera House on Friday, June 16. Music Director Eun Sun Kim, former Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles, and former Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers will conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus along with a host of star soloists in {…}
The Boston Baroque has announced its 2023-24 season featuring a number of vocal performances. The Boston Baroque opens its season with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 featuring Heidi Stober, Daniela Mack, William Burden, and Eric Owens. The program also includes the “Coriolan” Overture and Elegiac Song. Performance Dates: Oct. 13-15, 2023 The company will also perform Handel’s Messiah with Amanda Forsythe, {…}
Remarkable. Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” opened at the San Francisco Opera War Memorial Opera House for the first time since the 1980s. We were strangers as the curtain rose, far away in time and belief, conviction, and the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution. Yet we were also familiars, who knew in our hearts and minds the {…}
(Credit: Johan Persson) This week the San Francisco Opera is set to present Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” a work that received its U.S. premiere in the city. This season’s presentations will mark the first time the work is presented in French in San Francisco and will mark the first time the company showcases the work since 1982. With the {…}
(Photo : Vincent Pontet) San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season is set to continue with Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” at the War Memorial Opera House. The production by Olivier Py, which is set to run between Oct. 15 and 30, will be conducted by Music Director Eun Sun Kim. The Poulenc opera will star Heidi Stober in her role debut {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced a major cast change for its production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The company stated via social media that Sir Donald Runnicles was forced to withdraw from the production due to an “acute shoulder illness.” In his stead, audiences will see and hear conductor Markus Stenz at the podium. He will join a production {…}
Musikfest Berlin has announced its 2022 season featuring international orchestras and soloists. Here is a selection of the vocal highlights of the season. Lucy Crowe, Ann Hallenberg, Giovanni Sala, and William Thomas perform Beethiven’s Missa Solemnis with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. John Eliot Gardiner conducts. Performance Date: August 31, 2022 Magdalena Kožená and Yefim Bronfman perform a {…}