10 Must See Operas For The Summer Season 2019[International Edition]

By Francisco Salazar

As the 2018-19 season comes to an end, we start to look at the summer festival season where the big stars and anticipated productions are set to make waves.

With a ton of selections to choose from, we eventually whittled it down to the 10 Must-See productions that cannot be missed this summer. Take a look.

10. Il Trovatore – Arena di Verona

Anna Netrebko makes her Arena di Verona debut in  one of her signature roles. She sings alongside her husband Yusif Eyvazov, baritone Luca Salsi, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. They star in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production with Pier Giorgio Morandi conducting.

Performance Dates: June 29-July 7, 2019

9. Macbeth – Macerata Festival

Rising star Saioa Hernandez makes her Macerata debut, adding a new role to her repertoire. She is joined by Roberto Frontali, Alex Esposito, and Giovanni Sala. Emma Dante directs the production with Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducting.

Performance Dates: July 20-August 4, 2019

8. La Damnation de Faust – Glyndebourne Festival

Glyndebourne Music Director Robin Ticciati brings Berlioz’s “Faust” adaptation to Glyndebourne for the very first time, with Allan Clayton as Faust and Christopher Purves as Méphistophélès. Julie Boulianne rounds out the cast in Richard Jones’ new production.

Performance Dates: May 18-July 10, 2019

7. Semiramide – Rossini Opera Festival

Graham Vick directs a new production of Rossini’s final Italian opera. Salome Jicia stars in the title role alongside Varuhi Abrahamyan, Nahuel di Pierro, and Antonino Siragusa. Michele Mariotti conducts.

Performance Dates: August 11-20, 2019

6. Salome – Bayerische Staatsoper

Marlis Petersen stars in the title role of Strauss early work for the first time in her career. She is joined by an all-star cast that includes Wolfgang Koch, Pavol Breslik, Ablinger-Sperrhacke, and Michaela Schuster. Krzysztof Warlikowski directs the new production with Kirill Petrenko conducting.

Performance Dates: June 27-July 7, 2019

5. Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagony – Festival d’Aix-En-Provence

Annette Dasch stars alongside Nikolai Schukoff, Sean Panikkar, Thomas Oliemans, and Peixin Chen. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Ivo van Hove’s production which is set to arrive at the Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Vlaanderen Opera, and Luxembourg Theatre.

Performance Dates: July 6-15, 2019

4. I Masnadieri – Teatro alla Scala

Michele Pertusi, Fabio Sartori, Massimo Cavalletti, and Lisette Oropesa star in a new production of Verdi’s early masterwork. Michele Mariotti conducts the new interpretation by Sir David McVicar, who returns to the Teatro alla Scala for the first time since 2014.

Performance Dates: June 18-July 7, 2019

3. Oedipe – Salzburger Festpiele

Enescu’s rarely performed opera gets a new production by Achim Freyer. The opera stars Christopher Maltman, John Tomlinson, Brian Mulligan, Vincent Ordonneau, David Steffens, Gordon Bintner, Tilmann Rönnebeck, Boris Pinkhasovich, Michael Colvin, Anaïk Morel, Ève-Maud Hubeaux, Chiara Skerath, and Anna Maria Dur. Ingo Metzmacher conducts.

Performance Dates: August 11-24, 2019

2. Don Quichotte – Bergenz Festival

Anna Goryachova​ and Gábor Bretz star in Massenet’s rarely performed work which also stars David Stout​, Léonie Renaud, Vera Maria Bitter​, Paul Schweinester, and Patrik Reiter. Antonino Fogliani conducts the new production Mariame Clément.

Performance Dates: July 18-29, 2019

1. Tannhäuser – Bayreuth Festival

Tobias Kratzer directs a new production of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” which also opens the summer festival. The opera is conducted by Valery Gergiev with Stephen Gould in the title role, Ekaterina Gubanova, Lise Davidsen, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Daniele Behle, and Stephen Milling.

Performance Dates: July 25-August 25, 2019

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