(Credit: Photo © SF/Bernd Uhlig) When Cecilia Bartoli enters the stage, all eyes are on her. The leading headliner in Salzburg has made herself a living legend. I know many music-lovers, of all ages, who have fallen in love with opera first and foremost because of Cecilia. Such talent has made legions of fans—myself included— to feel entitled to use {…}
The Salzburg Whitsun Festival has announced its 2023 festival and it will feature a very heavy emphasis on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. “As a musician and singer, I firmly believe in the power of music and the human voice. Therefore, the Orpheus myth is naturally one of the ancient stories that fascinates me most. It heartens me when {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced a cast change for its Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” The company said Meigui Zhang will make her role debut as Eurydice, replacing Christina Gansch who is expecting her second child and has withdrawn from the production. Zhang made her company debut this past summer as Dai Yu in Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s “Dream {…}
(Credit: Rikimaru Hota) The New National Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, has announced that it will be streaming “Orfeo ed Euridice” via OperaVision and NNTT Stream starting on Oct. 7, 2022. The opera, which was performed on May 21 of this year, can be seen for six months with subtitles in English, French, Italian, German and Japanese. It will be part {…}
(Photo: Patrick Browne) Opera in Ireland has recently been going through a boom time. Whereas only a few years ago, Irish singers were being forced to look abroad to establish a career, owing to the lack of opportunities at home, now, with the emergence of Opera Collective Ireland, the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, and, most significantly, Irish National Opera, along {…}
The Festival D’Aix-En-Provence has announced its 2022 slate featuring a varied repertoire and international stars. The festival will begin on July 4 and is set to run through July 23, 2022. Here is a look at the upcoming season: Mahler’s “Resurrection” will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen in a production by Romeo Castellucci. Golda Schultz and Marianne Crebassa star. Performance {…}
(Credits: Fabio Lovino / Daniele Ferroni / Semperoper Dresden official website) The Komische Oper Berlin will stage Damiano Michieletto’s production of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera “Orfeo ed Euridice.” It will be presented in the Italian version, which premiered in Vienna in 1762. Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli and soprano Nadja Mchantaf will perform the title roles, and will be joined onstage {…}
(Credit: Staatsoper Unter den Linden / Marcus Ebener) The Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin has announced its Barocktage. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal works only. Here is a look. Baritone Adam Kutny kicks off the festival with the children opera “Theseus’ Reise in die Unterwelt.” Carolina Nees is the moderator. Performance Dates: Nov. {…}
The Opera America has announced the winners of the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize. The four winning teams are: The production of the “The Central Park Five” by Davis and Wesley. The award went to the hands of Bruno Baker, director; Chantelle Good, choreography; Frank J. Olivia, set design; Sabrina Bianca Guillaume, costume design; and Ginevra Lombardo, lighting design. The {…}
Early music enthusiasts in Seattle showed up in full force for a single concert performance of a Baroque pastiche of the Orpheus story featuring world-class early music specialists. How could they resist the intriguing concept and such a stellar line up? Philippe Jaroussky is a major international star (a “rockstar countertenor” as the Seattle Symphony marketing department awkwardly posits) {…}
(Photo Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) On October 20, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera premiered this season’s production of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Mark Morris’ production gave the classic work a staging that, while at times veering towards the abstract, remained consistent to its artistic vision and true to its source material. One detail, downplayed but very present, were the {…}