This weekend’s selections run the gamut from a world premiere, the return of a famed but rarely performed opera (at least in the States), a superstar cast in a Mozart opera, and two other works by prominent composers. Here is a rundown of our top five selections of the weekend (in alphabetical order by company). L’Incoronazione di Poppea – Florentine {…}
The finalists for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions have been revealed. The nine finalists are set to compete in the Grand Finals on the Met stage on March 31, 2019. The finalists include three tenors (Piotr Buszewski, Dashaui Chen, and Miles Mykkanen), three sopranos (Alaysha Fox, Meghan Kasanders, and Elena Villalón), one mezzo-soprano (Michaela Wolz), one baritone (Thomas Glass), {…}
Javier Camarena has made Met Opera history singing the first solo encore in a Live in HD performance. During the final performance of Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment” at the Metropolitan Opera, Camarena repeated the final part of “A Mes Ami.” In total he sang 18 high Cs in the performance. With this final performance, Camarena encored during all seven {…}
One of the most exciting aspects of a new season is the fact that audiences will get an opportunity to encounter new and exciting artists for the very first time. This is also the case at the Metropolitan Opera, which will feature a plethora of debuts in numerous major productions. Here is a look at six stars that we are {…}
Soprano Erin Morley is one of opera’s most sought-after lyric coloraturas, having wowed audiences and critics alike in such quintessential coloratura roles as Zerbinetta in “Ariadne auf Naxos,” Sophie in “Der Rosenkavalier,” Cunegonde in “Candide,” and, Olympia in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” In early January, the Salt Lake City native finished her debut run as Pamina in “The Magic Flute” at {…}
The Met Opera will continue its Live in HD series this Saturday, Dec 15, 2018, with a performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The broadcast, which kicks off 12:55 p.m. Eastern time, is set Diana Damrau as the lead heroine with Quinn Kelsey as Germont, and Juan Diego Flórez as her lover Alfredo. This is Damrau’s fifth HD broadcast with her {…}
Puccini’s “Il Trittico” returns to the Met Opera on Nov. 23, 2018, for seven performances. Despite being one of Puccini’s finest works, it has only been presented with the company on 74 occasions; by the end of this run, it will have 81 performances total. As is always the case with these operas, there are a ton of singers involved {…}
Christian Van Horn is one of today’s rising stars in the opera world, the bass making major role debuts and opening new productions at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company and the Metropolitan Opera. This year, he became the third bass-baritone to win the Richard Tucker Award and the first of his voice type since 2003. Van Horn’s {…}
This Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, the Metropolitan Opera will bring back Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West,” which incidentally had its world premiere with the company back in 1910. In the context of other Puccini works, this one is seldom performed. For context, “La Bohème,” is the company’s most performed work, with 1300-plus performances in the company’s history. “Tosca,” meanwhile has {…}
Tenor Kristian Benedikt made his Metropolitan Opera debut during Monday night’s performance of “Samson et Dalila,” stepping in for an ailing Roberto Alagna in the third act of the opera. Benedikt was previously scheduled to make his debut in the title role of the Saint-Saëns opera during the run in the Spring, but it seemed inevitable that he would step {…}
The changes at the Metropolitan Opera keep on coming as the company has announced that it will make a slight change to alter user experience at the theater. Per a press release on Monday, the company will open a new entrance to the lobby later this fall, making it easier for “patrons and subscribers” to arrive for a performance. The {…}