Superstar tenor Juan Diego Flórez will perform in recital at the Los Angeles Opera this coming January. On Jan. 23, 2023, the tenor will appear alongside longtime collaborator Vincenzo Scalera. The showcase will feature Italian songs alongside arias by such composers as Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, and Lalo. The showcase starts at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Dorothy {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) Superstar soprano Pretty Yende is set to perform alongside the Princeton Symphony Orchestra this January at the Richardson Auditorium. Yende will take on Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” as well as arias from Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” The orchestra will also play Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and music by Verdi and Rossini. {…}
South Orange Performing Arts Center in New Jersey is set to present Verdi’s “La Traviata” on Nov. 30, 2022. The partly staged performance of the classic work will star Molly Dunn as Violetta with Jeremy Brauner as Alfredo and Jason Detwiler as Giorgio Germont. The MidAtlantic Symphony and Seton Hall University Choir will also perform. Dunn recently performed “La Traviata” {…}
San Francisco Opera created a memorable performance out of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” a work That once heard, will always im[act you deeply. Director Shawna Lucey, the recently appointed general director of Opera San José, and her team created a lovely production that detailed the changing seasons of nature and buttressed the changing love-relationship between Violetta and Alfredo. Each scene depicted shifting {…}
(Credit: Curtis Brown) In a recent interview with OperaWire, composer Lori Laitman noted that Verdi’s “Rigoletto” was among her favorite operas. “Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ is one of my favorites and the use of music to reveal the horrific fact that the Duke is still alive is so chilling,” she noted. Taking in the work on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 for the {…}
Photo credit: Prudence Upton Verdi’s “Attila” of 1846 could be characterized as “cabelettismo,” in reference to the quantity it contains of those brisk, strutting, decisive passages (“cabaletti”) that capped off vocal numbers in early 19th century Italian opera. There could be an implication here that the 32 year-old Verdi relied on this device rather too much, and that this prevalence {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) ***This review was written in collaboration with David Salazar*** But before we get to the opera, let’s kick things off by addressing the elephant in the room. Last season, the Met Opera opened this very opera with a potent political act – the performance of the Ukrainian national anthem. In a time of war {…}
The Academy of Vocal Arts is gearing up to present Verdi’s “La Traviata” starting on Nov. 11, 2022. The opera will feature Lydia Grindatto and Emily Margevich rotating in the role of Violetta Valéry. They are joined by Matthew Goodheart and Luke Norvell as Alfredo Germont and Benjamin Dickinson and Kevin Godinez as Giorgio Germont. Other cast members include Monique {…}
The Greek National Opera will present the GNO TV premiere of Verdi’s “Otello” on Nov. 6, 2022. The opera stars Aleksandrs Antonenko in the title role alongside soprano Celia Costea and baritone Tassis Christoyannis. Other cast members include Dimitris Paksoglou, Yannis Kalyvas, Petros Magoulas, Marinos Tarnas, Pavlos Sampsakis, and Violetta Lousta. Stathis Soulis conducts a production directed by Robert Wilson. {…}
(Credit: © Tessa Traeger) On Sept. 26, Carlo Rizzi opened the Metropolitan Opera for the third time in his career. However, that experience was unique because he was conducting “Medea” for the time ever. And it’s just the first of three works at the Met this season. A few days after the opening, the conductor returned to the podium to {…}
It is a very rare and no less fortunate occurrence for two of the leading sopranos in America to release, within months from each other, their respective take on one of the most dangerously underestimated roles in all of opera: Violetta Valéry for whom, so the saying goes, three voices are needed to match the transition from the melismatic first {…}