Cast Change: Sandra Laagus Joins Berlin State Opera’s ‘Les Contes d’Hoffmann’

https://operawire.com/cast-change-sandra-laagus-joins-berlin-state-operas-les-contes-dhoffmann/

The Staatsoper Berlin has announced a cast change for its production of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” The company said that Sandra Laagus will sing the role of Giuletta. In a statement the soprano took to social media and said, “My heart is so full as I share I’ll be singing the role of Giulietta in Lydia Steier’s iconic production of Les {…}

Special Features

Best of 2025: OperaWire’s Staff Selects Their Favorite Performances of the Year

https://operawire.com/best-of-2025-operawires-staff-selects-their-favorite-performances-of-the-year/

The New Year is upon us, which means it’s time to look back and reflect at what was and what will remain in our memories. As per usual, OperaWire has compiled the favorite performances of the year from many of our contributors. We won’t keep you waiting, here’s a look at the Staff Picks for the best performances of 2025. {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opernhaus Zürich 2025-26 Review: Der Rosenkavalier

https://operawire.com/opernhaus-zurich-2025-26-review-der-rosenkavalier/

On Sept. 21, 2025, the Opernhaus Zürich opened the 2025-26 season with a new production of “Der Rosenkavalier.” The season opening was the start of General Director Mattias Schulz’s tenure, and based on this premiere, it is a great start. Fantasy World The production by Lydia Steier is a confection of colorful sets that mix time periods and wild fantastical {…}

News

Lisette Oropesa & Georg Nigl Among 2025 Austrian Music Prize Winners

https://operawire.com/lisette-oropesa-georg-nigl-among-2025-austrian-music-prize-winners/

The Austrian Music Prize has announced the 2025 winners. Among this year’s winners are Lisette Oropesa for Best Female Lead Role for her performance as Ophélie in “Hamlet” at the Salzburg Festival and Georg Nigl for Best Male Lead Role for his performance of Nekrotzar in “Le Grand Macabre” at the Vienna State Opera. The Best Female Newcomer was awarded {…}

News, Streaming

Arte.TV to Stream ‘Der Rosenkavalier’ From Zürich Starring Diana Damrau

https://operawire.com/arte-tv-to-stream-der-rosenkavalier-from-zurich-starring-diana-damrau/

Arte.tv is set to broadcast the Opernhaus Zürich’s new production of “Der Rosenkavalier.” The broadcast will be held on Sept. 21, 2025 and will feature a new production by Lydia Steier conducted by Joana Mallwitz. The cast will include Diana Damrau as Die Feldmarschallin, Günther Groissböck as der Baron Ochs, Bo Skovhus as Herr von Faninal, Angela Brower as Octavian, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Festival Aix-en-Provence 2025 Review: Don Giovanni

https://operawire.com/festival-aix-en-provence-2025-review-don-giovanni/

The new Robert Icke staging of “Don Giovanni” might upset more than a few spirits. The scenic proposal is certainly disruptive, and its insistence on intervening digitally in the opera’s soundscape is the most acute symptom of “directivitis” (the terrible disease that has afflicted opera directors for the last seven decades). However, I really had a great time watching “Don {…}

Special Features

Strauss in the Shadows: Germany Spearheads a Revival of the Composer’s Lesser-Known Operas

https://operawire.com/strauss-in-the-shadows-germany-spearheads-a-revival-of-the-composers-lesser-known-operas/

I. In a city as operatically overdetermined as Berlin, even a new production of Richard Strauss’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten” might be expected to pass with respectable indifference. But when Tobias Kratzer mounted the late-Romantic behemoth this January at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, capping a Strauss trilogy that had begun with “Arabella” and “Intermezzo,” the result was not just another {…}

News, Streaming

Wiener Staatsoper Announces Two Streams with Krassimira Stoyanova

https://operawire.com/wiener-staatsoper-announces-two-streams-with-krassimira-stoyanova/

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that it will stream “Il Trovatore” and “Der Rosenkavalier.” The company said that on May 30, it will showcase Verdi’s masterwork with a cast that includes Luca Salsi, Piotr Beczała, Krassimira Stoyanova, and Ekaterina Semenchuk. Marco Armiliato will conduct the production by Daniele Abbado. Then on June 17, the company will stream a performance of {…}

Editorials, Special Features

Stream the Most Important New Opera of the Year for Free [Editorial]

https://operawire.com/stream-the-most-important-new-opera-of-the-year-for-free-editorial/

(Credit: © Sandra Then) The sounds of history often linger, echoing into the present in ways that demand our attention. Sometimes they whisper, unsettling but distant; other times, they crash through with devastating force. In Germany, the past is never far from the surface, but it has rarely felt as raw and urgent as it does now. At the Hanover {…}

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