(Photo: © Wiener Staatsoper / Marcel Urlaub) Few operas blur the line between theatrical fiction and real-world tragedy quite as dramatically as Francesco Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur.” Premiered in 1902 at the height of Italian verismo, the work dramatizes the glamorous life and mysterious, poison-laced death of the historic 18th-century Comédie-Française actress. Driven by a lush score rich in soaring melodies, {…}
The Teatro Regio di Torino has announced its 2026-27 season. The season opens with Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” with Francesco Micheli directing Leoncavallo and Daniele Menghini directing Mascagni. Leoncavallo’s work will star Carolina Lopez Moreno, Maria Teresa Leva, Martin Muehle, Carlo Ventre, Gregory Kunde, Ariun Ganbaatar, Fabián Veloz, Matteo Mezzaro, Matteo Falcier, Joshua Hopkins, and Rodion Pogossov while {…}
(Credit: Monika Rittershaus) “La Forza del Destino” has always been considered a transitional work in Giuseppe Verdi’s output, bridging the purely romantic operas of his early period and the mature works where his musical language became more dramatic, direct, and personal. It was composed on a commission from the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, where it premiered in 1862. The {…}
An obsession more than just a pet project, the decade-long history of “Nerone” is but an imperfect indicator of the gargantuan scale Arrigo Boito envisioned for his imperial tragedy. The opera is an unwieldy amalgamation of music that–like the scapigliatura movement itself–occupies a liminal space: neither conformist nor truly progressive, but somehow perpetually discontent. “Nerone” very much fits the {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” with Ivor Bolton conducting a new production by Paul Curran. The cast includes Daniel Behle, Cecilia Molinari, Nicolò Balducci, and Francesca Aspromonte. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-30, 2025 Luca Micheletti directs Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” with Renato Palumbo conducting. Luca Salsi, Francesco Meli, {…}
(Ph. Brescia – Amisano © Teatro alla Scala) In a suitcase–acquired expressly to transport it due to its weight and size–travels, rehearsal after rehearsal and performance after performance, the score of “Il nome della rosa,” weighing an impressive 15 kilograms. Yet the heft of this voluminous tome is not merely physical but also semiotic: it is the fruit of the {…}
(Credit: Fabrizio Sansoni) The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced its 2025 summer festival at the Caracalla. The festival, known as the Caracalla Festival, will take place between June 29 and August 7 under Damiano Michieletto’s artistic direction. The festival will showcase four productions. The season’s first production will be Händel’s “La Resurrezione.” George Petrou conducts the production by Ilaria {…}
The Teatro Carlo Felice is set to present Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The company will showcase the work in a production by Giorgio Gallione with Renato Palumbo conducting. The opera stars two casts led by Carolina López Moreno and Elena Schirru. The will be joined by Francesco Meli and Klodjan Kaçani as Alfredo Germont and Roberto Frontali and Leon Kim as {…}
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has announced a cast change for its concert performance of Puccini’s “Tosca” on Oct. 24, 2024. The company said that Roberto Frontali will sing the role of Scarpia taking over for Ludovic Tézier who is ill. For his part, Tézier took to social media and said, “Dear friends, a virus has put me in {…}
(Credit:@Giulio Paolini) The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to present the world premeiere of Silvia Colasanti’s “L’ultimo viaggio di Sindbad.” The company will conclude the 2023-24 season and was commissioned by Fondazione Capitolina. The new work is part of a project of three contemporary operas. Next season, the company will present the Italian premiere of “Adriana Mater” by Kaija {…}
Genova’s Teatro Carlo Felice has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the operas and concerts. Opera The season will open with a double bill featuring the play “Giro di vite” by Henry James and Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw.” Davide Livermore directs the production with Riccardo Minasi at the podium. The cast for Britten will {…}
