(Photo Credit: @Guergana Damianova – OnP) When Claus Guth’s spatial version of “La Bohème” opened in 2017, the Opéra Bastille shook with all the insults it received. Puccini’s opera is often understood as an artefact, and productions will flirt with disaster if they do not depict a snow-globe Paris, crystallized in everyone’s mind. Guth did not abandon a visually beautiful {…}
Kazuki Yamada/courtesy of CBSO The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has unveiled its 2023-24 season, and it’s full to the brim with opportunities to hear some of the world’s finest music and musicians. With over 12 months of programming, the Orchestra has something for everyone. The Orchestra will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the City of Birmingham Symphony {…}
Juilliard Opera is set to present a double bill of Puccini operas starting on April 18, 2023. The institution will showcase fully staged productions of “Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicchi” with students from the Ellen Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. The showcase will also feature the Juilliard Orchestra. Daniela Candillari conducts and John Giampietro directs. Robert Kahn is the assistant {…}
Credit: Keith Saunders Opera Australia’s annual Handa Opera on the Harbor, named after Opera Australia’s Patron-in-Chief, Japanese businessman Haruhisa Handa, is undoubtedly one of Sydney’s most anticipated yearly social events. At the premiere of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” helmed by Spanish director Àlex Ollé on March 24th, a black-tie audience including three former Australian prime ministers indicated that the show had an {…}
On Site Opera is set to present “Il Tabarro” between May 14 – 17, 2023. The company will showcase the opera at the historic lightship Ambrose at the South Street Seaport, making the second time the organization partners with the Seaport Museum. “Il Tabarro” will be conducted by Geoffrey McDonald and will feature guest director Laine Rettmer. The cast will {…}
From Mar. 31 to Apr. 2, San Francisco Opera will close its tour of “Bohème Out of the Box” when it comes to Dublin, CA. This production sees “La Bohème” unfold on a converted shipping container, with a runtime of 75 minutes. Director Jose Maria Condemi leads a cast of SFO Adler Fellows and guest artists with keyboard accompaniment. There {…}
Photo: Marc Brenner Having an unequivocal passion for Puccini, this reviewer must confess to being somewhat conflicted over his final work. These concerns, though, have always been assuaged with the knowledge that many others have also been plagued with such uncertainty, not least with the original work itself, for, of course, the maestro died before the completion of “Turandot.” After {…}
The New National Theatre Tokyo has announced the programming for its 2023-24 season. The season will open with a new production of Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” presented with Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les Sortileges.” This double bill will be led by conductor Numajiri Ryusuke and director Aguni Jun, with a cast featuring Chiara Isotton, Marianna Pizzolato, Chloe Briot, and Saito Junko. Performance {…}
The Book Guild Publishing has announced the upcoming publication of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” literary novelization by acclaimed writer Gary Davis. The publisher has set April 28, 2023, as the novel’s release date. “Davis’ “Butterfly” is set after the American Civil War. When a man from Maine becomes a diplomat in Nagasaki, Japan, he befriends a geisha named Cio-Cio and attends {…}
What can be said about opera composers? Those who compose opera usually live very operatic lives filled with tons of drama fit for the stage. This is no more apparent than the great verismo composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) who, in his relatively short life, had many affairs, a formal wife, a “legitimate” and “illegitimate” son, and yet still found the {…}
The Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo is set to present Puccini’s “Tosca” in a production by Pedro Salazar. The production, which opens on Feb. 24, 2023, will star Martina Serafin in the title role alongside Fabián Veloz as Scarpia. Adam Smith stars as Cavaradossi with other cast members including Jacobo Ochoa, Manuel Franco, Camil Mendoza, Valeriano Lancha, and Julián {…}
