The Olivier Awards have announced the 2024 winners. For this article, we will focus on the opera categories only. The TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production went to “Innocence” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House. The opera, which had its world premiere in 2021, was Kaija Saariaho‘s final opera. The award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera {…}
Sir Antonio Pappano is defending his choice to work with Anna Netrebko in the upcoming production of Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda” at the Salzburg Easter Festival. In a statement to Times UK during the Royal Opera House’s 2023-24 season announced, the Music Director said “There’s a lot of inept cancelling going on in the world” and added that Netrebko was a {…}
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 {…}
On Oct. 26, 2021, the Metropolitan Opera will revive a production of Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” for the first time in seven years. The production will mark the return of Lise Davidsen in a role debut, Michael Volle in a signature role, and Klaus Florian Vogt, one of the greatest Wagnerians of his generation. But perhaps what makes this {…}
On April 16, Lisette Oropesa and Xabier Anduaga will join Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for a Bel Canto concert. Sir Antonio Pappano will conduct the two stars in a program that will include music from Bellini’s “I Puritani” and “La Sonnambula” and Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment,” “Lucrezia Borgia,” “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “Don Pasquale,” and “L’Elisir d’Amore.” The {…}
(Credit: Musacchio & Ianniello licensed to EMI Classics) The Royal Opera House Covent Garden has announced that it will stream a specially recorded film which will feature the opera house’s young artists and Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano. The film will be broadcast on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. GMT. “Tony and the Young Artists” brings together Pappano and members {…}
Many times the final moments of a piece of art are the ones that leave the audience with the biggest impression. It may be the final image of a film or the final bars of a musical work. In the bel canto repertoire, the final impression is generally left by whether a singer hits a certain high note, be it {…}
(Credit: Musacchio & Ianniello) The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy has announced its 2020-21 season. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on the vocal performances. The season opens with Gerhild Romberger and Clay Hilley performing Bruckner’s “Te Deum” and Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde.” Antonio Pappano conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 16-18, 2020 {…}
(Credit: Musacchio & Ianniello licensed to EMI Classics) Sir Antonio Pappano is coming back to the stage in August, albeit in a smaller format performance. Britten Pears Arts will be hosting live music in Snape Maltings Concert Hall from Friday August 7, bringing together some of the musicians who would have performed during this year’s Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Proms. {…}
Jonas Kaufmann and Antonio Pappano have launched a new podcast entitled “Discover Otello.” The new podcast hosted by Kaufmann, Pappano, and Thomas Voigt will shed light on Verdi’s penultimate opera and their recent recording of the work. The series will be a total of four episodes with each one going in-depth about the acts of the opera. In the first {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston / Kamil Szkopik) Gramophone Classical Music Awards will host an online charity gala to support musicians who have struggled with the cancelations brought about by the COVID-19 crisis. The event, which is set for May 10, 2020 at 7 p.m. BST will star Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ian & Oliver Bostridge, Bertrand Chamayou, Colin Currie, Lise Davidsen, Sabine Devieilhe, {…}