Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Natalie Dessay Headline Metropolitan Opera’s 69th Week of Nightly Streams

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the 69th straight week of streams. Per a press release, this week’s streams, which will be dedicated to the operas of Richard Strauss, will include several first-time broadcasts. Here is a breakdown of the schedule. Week 69 – Strauss Week Monday, July 5 – Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” Starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos, Judith Blegen, Luciano Pavarotti, Derek Hammond-Stroud, and Kurt {…}

Jun 17, 2021

Page to Opera Stage: Wilde’s and Strauss’ Scandals with ‘Salome’

“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This week, we look at a theatrical work adapted for opera: Oscar Wilde’s often-banned “Salome” and Richard Strauss’ no-less-controversial operatic reworking. Over the past few weeks, {…}

Feb 15, 2021

Karine Deshayes & Delphine Haidan Lead Recital Livestream From Opéra de Vichy

(Credits: © Aymeric Giraudel / Seattle Symphony official website) Mezzo-sopranos Karine Deshayes and Delphine Haidan will give a recital at Opéra de Vichy on Feb. 19, 2021. The program for the concert includes the works by Adolpha Le Beau, Brahms, Strauss, Gounod, Delibes, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini. Due to the French government’s COVID-19 regulations, the concert will be held without {…}

Oct 31, 2020

Opera Quiz: How Are Politics & Leaders Portrayed in Opera?

With an election coming upon the U.S. and the world in general focusing on their nations’ leaders in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we turn to a topic that we believe is at the core of opera: politics. On a very personal note, it’s been rather surprising to hear many comments about how opera and politics should not be “mixed {…}

Sep 26, 2020

Q & A: Soprano Natalia Tanasii on the Salzburg Festival, Sting, & Strauss

(Credit: Natalia Sedinta) Moldovan soprano Natalia Tanasii was only 21 when she made her professional stage debut as Countess Almaviva (“Le nozze di Figaro”) at the Moldovan National Opera. Her unforgettable Salzburg Festival debut followed in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s staging of “Elektra” this year. In an interview with OperaWire, Ms. Tanasii discussed her career moves, repertoire choices, and her preparation process {…}

Aug 30, 2020

Metropolitan Opera Stars Live in Concert Review: Lise Davidsen in Oslo, Norway

(Credit: Ray Burmiston) “One voice in a million.” This is the kind of phrase on which legacies, mythologies, histories are built. And it’s the phrase that continues to crop up whenever Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen enters the operatic conversation. The soprano has definitely played her part in bringing about this idea that her voice is of a unique power. She {…}

Aug 17, 2020

Franz Welser-Möst Given Major Award at Salzburg Festival

(Credit: Julia Wesely) After a performance of “Elektra” on August 17, 2020, conductor Franz Welser-Möst was awarded with the Ruby Festival Brooch at the Salzburg Festival. The award was presented to the conductor on his 60th birthday by Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler. Welser-Möst made his debut with the Festival back on August 29, 1985 in a concert featuring works by {…}

Aug 10, 2020

Salzburg Festival 2020 Review: Elektra

(Credit: Salzburg Festival / Bernd Uhlig) Entering the dark Felsenreitschule hall of the Salzburg Festival, carved into the rock of a mountain, you feel uncomfortably crammed inside the mountain – in a terribly unfamiliar space that hides something in the distance of the stage. So far you can’t see or hear anything but in the air, you feel uncertainty, tension, {…}

Aug 5, 2020

Karen Slack & Zachary James Lead Reimagined Opera Omaha 2020-21 Season

(Credits: Roni Ely/Matt Madison Clark) In response to the ongoing COVID-19 concerns, Opera Omaha has made some necessary changes to the 2020-21 season in order to ensure the safety of the audiences and the safety of its artists and staff. The season will open with a production of Mozart and Da Ponte’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Mary Feminear will appear {…}

Jul 24, 2020

Leonie Rysanek, Even More Than A Diva: One of OperaWire’s Writers Remembers the Diva From a Unique Perspective

(Credit: Louis Melancon / Metropolitan Opera) A version of this piece was published in a 1998 edition of SF Weekly. Being a Super (Supernumerary), a fancy word for “Extra” at the San Francisco Opera had been a habit of mine many years ago. Nightly rehearsals from June through August, and performances September through November, only encouraged me to juggle my {…}

Jun 7, 2020

Word Search: Complete the Name of these Celebrated ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ Interpreters

(Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) For this week’s edition of the word search will focus on the interpreters of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier,” specifically those who have performed the role of Octavian to great renown. Your goal is to find the first name of each of these mezzo-sopranos. Instructions: You are free to solve the word search directly on your mobile {…}

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