(Credit: Keith Necaise) Director Jennifer Williams is set to lead a new production of Strauss’ “Four Last Songs” at The Alchemical on Jan. 15, 2020. The production will feature soprano Cristina Bakhoum Sanchez with Sara Chiesa performing a piano arrangement of the work by Bakhoum Sanchez. The set will be designed by Jungah Han with Asa Benally designing the costumes. {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton was the flame that lit a rainy night in San Francisco this past week. With Kathleen Kelly at the piano, she sang an eclectic concert on the subject of love, her powerful and sumptuous voice bringing pleasure and beauty to her entire audience. It was glorious. Barton announced during the concert that she and {…}
Catherine Foster is known as one of the great of Brünnhildes of our time. She has performed the role six consecutive times at the Bayreuth Festival and continues to be in-demand for her interpretation. And while there is no denying that this might be her signature role, it is impossible to discount three other operas that she is also dominating {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met OPera) On Friday, Dec. 13, the Metropolitan Opera will revive its Robert Carsen production of “Der Rosenkavalier” with a fantastic cast of singers. As the Marschallin, Camilla Nylund will make her hotly anticipated Met Opera debut. Katie Van Kooten will sing a single performance on Dec. 28; this is her third opera at the Met, {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston / Decca Classics) Soprano Lise Davidsen is set to be a Met Opera star over the next few seasons. Per The New York Times, the soprano, who will make her debut this coming month in “The Queen of Spades” is set to perform in a number of major operas over the next three seasons. She will appear {…}
(Credit: Oleg Rostovstev) Singing a recital in New York City is a rare occasion for an artist of any caliber. So, it is understandable that when a major opera star gets a chance to perform in one of the city’s hallowed halls, their choice of repertory would truly highlight their vocal and interpretative prowess. The idea of programming a recital {…}
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music Opera will present Mozart’s “The Impresario” and the prologue to Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” on Nov. 21 and 22, 2019. The performances will take place at the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall and will be directed by Heather Mathew, who is the Associate Program Director of the Opera and Musical Theatre department at the {…}
(Photo Credit: Chris Lee) On Friday, Nov 8, 2019, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra took to Carnegie Hall for a highly touching concert of R. Strauss and Brahms. Conducted by Mariss Jansons, the evening’s program was comprised of personal works from the composers, being some of the last works they ever put on paper, while touching on themes of love, {…}
Opera composers are among the most admired artists of all time. All of them had unique personalities and letters and quotes gathered throughout the years have illuminated us about who they were and how they thoughts. So for this week’s quiz we will take a look at some of the iconic quotes from some of those great composers. Some quotes {…}
The Vienna State Opera will live stream R. Strauss’ “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” on Oct. 18, 2019. The opera will be conducted by Christian Thieleman with a cast that features Andreas Schager as Der Kaiser, Camila Nylund as Der Kaiserin, Mihoko Fujimura as Die Amme, Clemens Unterreiner as Geisterbote, Tomasz Konieczny as Barak, and Nina Stemme as der Barak Weiß. {…}
(Credit: Bo Huang) On Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2019, the Vienna State Opera will live stream Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne Auf Naxos.” The opera, which will be performed in a production by Sven-Eric Bechtolf, will be conducted by Michael Boder and will star Hans Peter Kammerer, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Kate Lindsey, Stephen Gould, Hila Fahima, and Adrianne Pieczonka. The stream kicks off at {…}