Photos credit: Frances Marshall/Marshall Light Studio Lada Valešová, with her multifaceted role as a conductor, pianist, and coach, has a particular love for Janáček and Tchaikovsky. At 12 years old, an essential audition nudged Valešová towards a musical journey. Years later, she was working on operas such as “Cunning Little Vixen” and “Eugene Onegin.” Valešová has been recognized with a {…}
(Credit: Ludoviz Ludha) The Staatsoper Unter den Linden has announced that Scottish tenor Nicky Spence has withdrawn from the production of Leoš Janáček’s “The Makropulos Affair” in February 2022. The tenor took to Twitter saying “So sad not to make my debut @StaatsoperBLN as planned… I fell down the stairs at the airport en route & am now stuck in {…}
(Credits: Opera Online / Oper Leipzig official website) The Komische Oper Berlin will present a new production of Leoš Janáček‘s opera “Káťa Kabanová” in November and December 2021. The opera house has assembled a cast that includes heldentenor Magnus Vigilius as Boris Grigorjevič; bass Jens Larsen as Savël Prokofjevic Dikój; mezzo-soprano Doris Lamprecht in the role of Marfa Ignatěvna Kabanová; {…}
((c) ROH 2021) The Royal Opera House’s first new production of Leoš Janáček’s “Jenůfa” in over twenty years was one of the first casualties of the 2020 lockdown, shelved on the cusp of opening in March that year. A starry cast made it an especially hot ticket then, especially given the involvement of imaginative German director Claus Guth, and {…}
(Photo: Ali Wright) The second half of Opera Holland Park’s revamped summer offering opened this week with Leoš Janáček’s late, philosophical comedy “The Cunning Little Vixen,” conducted by Jessica Cottis and directed by Stephen Barlow. One of the strange gifts of lockdown for Londoners – those blessed with gardens anyway – was the opportunity, working from home, to experience more {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Angela Gheorghiu official website / Michael Cooper / Kasskara/DG / Chris Singer) The Royal Opera House Covent Garden has announced full details of its exciting 2021-22 season, which will star some of the world’s greatest performers. The Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season and digital program will be announced {…}
It is an under-appreciated coincidence that Janacek’s searing opera of bourgeois repressiveness and psychological collapse appears in the same year as fellow Moravian Sigmund Freud’s “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” and his study of “Mass Psychology” (they were, in fact, born mere miles apart). “Kat’a Kabanova” is a psychic drama of shame and self-hatred. As in Freud’s work, Janacek creates a {…}
(Credits: © McQueen / Deutsche Oper am Rhein official website / © Jean-Baptiste Millot / Jiyang Chen) Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas Hans Abrahamsen’s “The Snow Queen” will spotlight Lauren Snouffer, Rachael Wilson, Helena Rasker, David Leigh, Michael Smallwood, Owen Willetts, Floriane Derthe, and Moritz Kallenberg. Robert {…}
(Photo Credits: © Wiener Staatsoper / Michael Pöhn / Bayerische Staatsoper official website / Chen Reiss official website) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the next slate of operas that will be presented on its streaming platform over the next week. The week opens with three operas by Leoš Janáček. First up is Leoš Janáček’s operatic masterwork “Káťa Kabanová” with Angela {…}
(Credits: Heikki Tuuli / Sim Canetty-Clarke / In Art Management official website) The Staatsoper unter der Linden has announced that it will stream live the premiere of its production of Leoš Janáček’s opera “Jenůfa” on Feb. 13, 2021. Due to the German government’s COVID-19 regulations, the showcase will be performed without a live audience. The opera will star Hanna Schwarz {…}
(Credit: Kevin Yatarola) Celebrated conductor Sir Simon Rattle has been appointed the new Chief Conductor of the Chor and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Rattle will begin his five-year tenure in 2023. The famed conductor served as the Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker until 2018, and currently holds the position of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. “Bayerischer Rundfunk {…}
