Photo credit: Daniel Boud We can be grateful that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Simone Young has a passion for the music of Arnold Schoenberg in this, his 150th anniversary year. On Friday March 15th, it led to the first performance in Sydney of Schoenberg’s concert-drama “Gurrelieder,” a massive work that was first performed in Vienna 111 years ago, {…}
(Photo credit: SSO) Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Simone Young leads Schoenberg’s “Gurrelieder,” at Sydney Opera House in celebration of the composer’s 150 birthday. “Gurrelieder” make its Sydney debut with soloist soprano Ricarda Merbeth, mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble, tenors Simon O’Neill and Andrew Goodwin, and bass Sava Vemić. They are joined by a chorus of more than 200 and an orchestra of {…}
Wagner had been absent from Valencia’s Palau de les Arts for 10 years. So it is understandable that its return, especially with “Tristan und Isolde,” was a reason for great anticipation and expectation. What’s more, tickets were almost sold out for every performance, and the reception at the curtain call was loud and enthusiastic. Evocative & Original Àlex Ollé, a {…}
The first edition of the Baltic Opera Festival has announced its 2023 season which will take place in July 2023 on the stages of the Forest Opera in Sopot and the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, Poland. Tomasz Konieczny is the Artistic Director of the newly founded Festival. The festival will open with Karol Szymanowski’s “Lottery for Husbands or Fiancé No. {…}
(© Semperoper Dresden/Matthias Creutziger) Semperoper Dresden is set to bring back Willy Decker’s production of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” this February. This revival will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this staging’s first performances and the first in five years. In sum, there will be two cycles – one starting on Jan. 27 and running through Feb. 1 and a second {…}
(Credit: Rosie Hardie) Lise Lindstrom has canceled her participation in Dresden’s Ring Cycle. The soprano took to social media and said, “due to unforeseen circumstances, the situation in Dresden has changed and I have withdrawn from the Ring. To my dear fans, friends, and family: I am disappointed to not be bringing my Brundhilde to you at this time.” As {…}
(Photo: Andrea Ranzi) For the Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s final production at the Sala Bibiena, before its four-year closure for major refurbishment, it presented Wagner’s “Lohengrin” conducted by Asher Fisch and directed by Luigi De Angelis. For those who like their operas to be a challenge, this production may have proved to be a worthwhile experience, but even then, this {…}
Teatro Real concludes Wagner’s epic tetralogy “Der Ring des Nibelungen” with nine performances of the fourth title, “Götterdämmerung,” after having presented one opera per season, beginning with “Das Rheingold” in 2019. Unfortunately, the production of this fourth opera, directed by Robert Carsen and Patrick Kinmonth, turned out to be repetitive, meaningless, and plain. Dull & Meaningless One of the main {…}
(Credit: Bregenz Festival official website) The Bregenz Festival has announced its 2022 slate, featuring four operas and international stars. Here is the full slate. Operas Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri” stars Maria Barakova as Isabella, Alberto Comes as Mustafa, Sarah Yang as Elvira, and Spencer Britten as Lindoro. The cast also includes Florence Losseau, Hubert Kowalczyk, and Pierpaolo Martella. Jonathan Brandani {…}
(Credit: Wiener Staatsoper official website) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the slate of operas that it will be presenting on its streaming platform over the next week. Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” from 2020 kicks off the slate. The opera spotlights Helene Schneiderman, Nicole Car, Anna Goryachova, Larissa Diadkova, Andrè Schuen, Bogdan Volkov, Dimitry Ivashchenko, Dan Paul Dumitrescu, Mykola Erdyk, and Johanna {…}
(Credit: © Wiener Staatsoper / Michael Pöhn) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the slate of operas that it will be presenting on its streaming platform over the next week. Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” from 2016 will be streamed initially. Adam Fischer conducts a production by Sven-Eric Bechtolf. First up is “Das Rheingold” with Tomasz Konieczny, Norbert Ernst, Michaela Schuster, {…}
