It’s time of the year. The moment we wrap up the year and look back at our favorite moments. After releasing our favorite performances of 2023 and showcasing our rising stars of the year, it’s time for OperaWire’s annual tradition of naming our top 11 singers of the year, performers that we thought stood out and had major breaks or performances. So {…}
Lili Elbe’s story is an important one, especially for the Transgender community. Born in 1882, Elbe became a noted painter (known as Einar Wegener) and married Gerda Gottlieb in 1904. By the 1920s, Elbe was presenting herself as a woman and took on the name of Lili and stopped painting. In 1930, she went to Germany for gender-affirmation surgery, changed {…}
(Foto: © Ludwig Olah) American composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman’s newest opera “Lili Elbe” is set to make its world premiere at the Theater St. Gallen. “Lili Elbe” is the first grand opera written for and about a historical person of trans experience, and the world premiere stars American heldenbaritone Lucia Lucas. Lucas will be joined a {…}
The Theater St. Gallen has unveiled its 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the classical vocal and operatic performances. First up is a performance of “Carmina Burana” featuring Kali Hardwick, Jonah Hoskins, Shea Owens, and Vincenzo Neri. Modestas Pitrenas conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 8 – Oct. 1, 2023 Rolando Villazón performs in recital alongside Carrie-Ann Matheson. They will deliver {…}
Lucia Lucas is set to kick off the second year of the Generation Venetian Arts Society’s critically acclaimed Café Society Pride series. The Berlin, Germany resident will make her South Florida debut with a performance of an original program entitled “In Her Own Voice…An Autobiographical Salon Concert.” Pianist Dr. Casey Robards will accompany Lucas. In a statement, William Riddle, founder {…}
Photo: © Genevieve Girling Christof Loy’s new production of “Tosca” for English National Opera, which first appeared in Helsinki in 2018, replaces Catherine Malfitano’s show, which received two revivals during its tenure and last appeared on the Coliseum stage in 2016. The production sees Leo Hussain return to the Coliseum pit – a distinguished Music Director of Opéra de Rouen and {…}
The Sound of Identity” is set to be released in the United Kingdom. The documentary, about Lucia Lucas, is set to be released on Sept. 12 on UK digital platforms. The film documents the history-making opera singer, Lucia Lucas, the first transgender woman in America, to perform the lead role in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” on a professional operatic stage. Directed {…}
(Credit: Raftermen) Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed’s chamber opera “As One” has brought a newness to the opera stage through the kind of story they tell and created opportunities for opera professionals in the LGBTQIA+ community. In The Atlanta Opera’s production, starring Lucia Lucas as Hannah Before and Blythe Gaissert as Hannah After, the positive impact and need {…}
The Atlanta Opera, which staged productions in a circus tent during the pandemic, will continue serving up opera in unexpected spaces with “The Come as Your Are” Festival to be held June 2-19, 2022, at the Historic Rail Park at Pullman Yard. Built upon the company’s successful Discoveries Series, the Festival will feature two productions: the musical “Cabaret,” and the {…}
Lucia Lucas is set to make her Metropolitan Opera debut and premiere a new work. In a recent interview with OperaNews, the baritone, who was set to make her Met debut during the 2020-21 season as the Bosun in “Billy Budd,” revealed that she will now make her debut in the role of Angelotti in “Tosca” in 2022. Lucas also {…}
Award-winning film director James Kicklighter and celebrated American baritone Lucia Lucas, were guests on the season finale of “Tawkin with the Roses,” hosted by actor Bonnie Rose and cabaret star Stephen S. Miller (aka Mama Rose). The episode is available on Miller’s website, and across the web on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The show sets up Shout! Studios’ June 1, {…}