In the second cast of the Teatro Real de Madrid’s “Medea,” Saioa Hernandez proved a revelation. Her dramatic instrument with a bright dark timbre, her expansive vibrato, her thunderous high register, her sonorous low register in chest voice, and her fluid vocal line make her ideal for this role. Medea’s writing is mostly central, we could even say that it {…}
The Orquesta Ciudad de Granada has announced its 2023-24 season with numerous vocal performances. Here is a look. Maria J. Pacheco, Carmen Callejas, Juan M. Morales, Luis D. Barrios, Luis Ortega, and Rodrigo Navarro lead a Bach program with Ton Koopman conducting. Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2023 Mezzo-soprano Anna Bonitatibus and violinist Kolja Blacher lead an Elgar evening with Joseph {…}
Valencia’s Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 season featuring opera, recitals, concerts, and zarzuela. Opera Dima Orsho and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto star in “Women at Point Zero.” Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2023 James Gaffigan conducts Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” in Richard Jones’ production. The cast includes Arsen Soghomonyan, Doris Soffel, Ekaterina Guseva, Elena Maximova, Roman Burdenko, and Nikolay Zemlianskikh. Performance {…}
Spain’s Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE has announced its 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Christoph König opens the season with music by Arriaga, Mozart, and Bruckner. The soloists are Marina Monzó, Štěpánka Pučálková, Airam Hernández, and Damián del Castillo. Performance Dates: Oct. 5 & 6, 2023 Marc Albrecht and Ekaterina Antipova lead a performance of music {…}
The ABAO Bilbao Opera is set to present “Anna Bolena,” the first title from the Tudor Trilogy by Donizetti. The work, which is set to be performed between Nov. 19 and 28 at the Euskalduna Bilbao, will star Joyce El-Khoury in her role debut. With Anna Bolena, El-Khoury will have concluded the trilogy having sung “Maria Stuarda” at the Seattle {…}
Spain’s Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias has announced its 2022-23 season. The season will include collaborations with such artists as violinist Roman Simović, the Quiroga Quartet, Fleur Barron, pianist Javier Perianes, violist Sara Ferrández, Pablo Ferrandez, and composer Francisco Coll. Nuno Coelho conducts Verdi’s Requiem with soloists Adriana González, Silvia Tró, and Matthew Rose. Performance Dates: March 30 & 31, {…}
This review is from the third performance, on the 8th of July. The Teatro Real closed its 2021-22 season with 15 performances of what is probably Verdi’s most famous early opera: “Nabucco.” With four baritones sharing the titular role, three sopranos, and three basses, this production promised to be one of the highlights of the season. But despite having such {…}
Spain’s Festival Castell de Peralada has announced its 2022 season featuring many great stars. Here is a look at the vocal highlights of the season. Emily D’Angelo and Sophia Munoz lead a program of opera arias. Performance Date: July 23, 2022 George Petean, Dmitry Belosselskiy, Anna Pirozzi, and Silvia Tro Santafe lead Verdi’s “Nabucco” with Nicola Luisotti conducting. Performance Date: {…}
The Bilbao Opera has announced its 2022-23 season featuring Jessica Pratt, Xabier Anduaga, Andrzej Filończyk, and Manuel Fuentes star in Bellini’s “I Puritani” in a production by Emilio Sagi and Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the Euskadiko Orkestra. Performance Dates: Oct. 15-24, 2022 Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena” is set to star Joyce El-Khoury, Silvia Tro Santafé, Marko Mimica, and Celso Albelo. The production {…}
(Credit: Teatro Real official website) The Teatro Real has announced several cast changes for the title role in Verdi’s “Nabucco.” The company noted that baritones Amartuvshin Enkhbat and George Petean have dropped out of the production and as a result, Gabriele Viviani, George Gagnidze, and Luca Salsi will sing the title role. They will join Luis Cansino, who will also {…}
The Bilbao Opera of Spain will present La Gala Abao on April 24, 2021. The company will present a combined program of opera and zarzuela for the first time featuring Carmen Solís, Itziar de Unda, Silvia Tro Santafé, Celso Albelo, Moisés Marín, Sergio Escobar, Juan Jesús Rodríguez, and Simón Orfila. Óliver Díaz will conduct the Bilbao Sinfonietta. The concert will {…}