Erin Morley, David Butt Philip, Pretty Yende, Maria Agresta & Maria Bengtsson Lead Semperoper Dresden’s 2024-25 Season

The Semperoper Dresden has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Arrigo Boito’s “Mefistofele” is conducted by Andrea Battistoni and directed by Eva-Maria Höckmayr. The production will star Krzysztof Bączyk, Bekhzod Davronov, Marjukka Tepponen, and Martina Gedeck. Performance Dates: Sept. 28-Oct. 24, 2024 Richard Strauss’s “Intermezzo” will be conducted by Patrick Hahn and directed by Axel Ranisch. The cast will include Maria {…}

Mar 21, 2023

Royal Opera House 2022-23 Review: Turandot

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 {…}

Mar 16, 2023

Royal Opera House 2022-23 Review: Turandot

Photo: Marc Brenner/ROH Somnific fiction is the stuff of bedtime stories starring beasts and feasts of the absurd: displays of madness only children could endure pre-slumber. Lumbering imaginations with beguilement, it refrains from the revilement of base villains, wrapping them instead in tangible entrancement. This enhancement of surrealness makes the fairytale the tender tooth’s apéritif: a nightly dose of magical {…}

Jan 16, 2023

Artist of the Week: Yonghoon Lee

This week the Seattle Opera will present Camille Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila” for the first time since 1965. The opera, which will be presented in concert performance, will see two of the brightest in the opera world making debuts. Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee is one of the stars that will take on the title role of Samson. Lee will not {…}

Dec 9, 2022

Yonghoon Lee & J’Nai Bridges Headline Seattle Opera’s Upcoming ‘Samson and Delilah’

On January 20, 2023, Seattle Opera will present Saint-Saens’ “Samson and Delilah” for the first time since 1965. This concert staging will feature acclaimed artists tenor Yonghoon Lee and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in the title roles, with both making their company debuts. Seattle Symphony Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot leads a cast including Greer Grimsley as the High Priest of Dagon, {…}

Oct 26, 2022

Riccardo Frizza to Lead Gran Teatre del Liceu’s ‘Il Trovatore’

The Gran Teatre del Liceu is set to open its 2022-23 season with Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” Maestro Riccardo Frizza will lead the opera for 10 performances with two different casts and will mark his latest foray into Verdian repertory since the Festival Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.” In an official statement, Frizza said, “Taking a look back over this year, it has {…}

Aug 29, 2022

PBS Announces Broadcast Date for ‘Great Performances at the Met: Turandot’

Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera PBS has announced that it will start broadcasting Puccini’s “Turandot” as part of its Great Performances at the Met series. The showcase premieres on Sept. 4, 2022 at 12 p.m. on THIRTEEN. The opera starred Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role alongside Yonghoon Lee, Ermonela Jaho, and Ferruccio Furlanetto. Marco Armiliato conducted the performance and {…}

May 10, 2022

Ermonela Jaho & Yonghoon Lee to Give Recital in New York City

On May 17, soprano Ermonela Jaho and Yonghoon Lee will present “An Evening to Remember” at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City. Mark Cogley will accompany the two stars in a recital that will be given in the memory of Antonia Green. All proceeds will be given to the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Diseases {…}

May 4, 2022

Metropolitan Opera 2021-22 Review: Turandot, Cast B

(Credit: Metropolitan Opera / Marty Sohl) I could commence this review by going into the political implications and problematic circumstances surrounding this production, but another writer has already done an excellent job spotlighting all that. Instead, I am going to jump into the performance itself, the second in this run of the famed Puccini work and Franco Zeffirelli’s iconic and, {…}

Apr 28, 2022

Ukrainian Soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska Leads Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Turandot’ Revival

(Credit: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera) On April 30, the Metropolitan Opera will revive its legendary production of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The Franco Zeffirelli production will return to the stage following fall performances with a new cast led by Liudmyla Monastyrska. This will mark the soprano’s first performances at the Met since 2017. The soprano has performed with the company 31 {…}

Mar 1, 2022

Opera Australia 2022 Review: Otello

(Photo credit: Prudence Upton) Whose version of “Othello” is better – Shakespeare’s or Verdi’s? You could have a good argument with someone over this. In Verdi’s opera, Iago is more overtly a villain (he says so in Act two’s “Credo in Dio crudel”) and there are potentially more shades to Otello, whose long speeches in Shakespeare’s “Othello” can too easily {…}