This week Oper Im Steinbruch will open a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” The production will feature a soprano in the title role, something that is rarely heard today. And the soprano in question will be Joyce El-Khoury, who is making her role debut. Throughout the past years, El-Khoury has performed a variety of operas that have included the works {…}
As the Teatro Real de Madrid closes its 2022-23 season, the company is set to present a new production of “Turandot” with three casts that include some of the greatest interpreters of the roles. Among the cast will be Ewa Płonka, who returns to Madrid a year after her debut. Płonka has become one of the leading dramatic sopranos of {…}
This week the Santa Fe Opera is set to open a new production of Wagner’s early work “Der Fliegende Holländer” with a cast of superstars and rising stars. Among the cast is Nicholas Brownlee, who is singing the title role and making his role debut. Brownlee has been a mainstay at the Santa Fe Opera since his debut in 2015 {…}
(Credit: Philip Grosbong) This week the Cincinnati Opera is set to present the world premiere staging of the opera “The Knock.” The opera explores what must be endured by the loved ones of those who serve. Based on years of interviews with real spouses of American soldiers, this new opera tells dramatic stories of heroism that often go unheard, tragedies {…}
This week, Ernesto Petti will make his debut at the Opera Australia in the title role of “Rigoletto,” marking the baritone’s role debut in the famously demanding title role. Regarding his role debut, Petti told OperaWire, “Rigoletto is a role that I have looked forward to for a long time because it has a special place in a baritone’s career, {…}
This week the Teatro alla Scala will make history by presenting the first-ever production of Dvořák’s “Rusalka. The work, which premiered 122 years ago in Prague has become a fixture at all the major opera houses in the world, but mysteriously has never been performed at the most renowned Italian theater. And for this major occasion, La Scala has brought {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) This week the Metropolitan Opera opens its final production of the 2023-24 season concluding with Wagner’s epic “Der Fliegende Holländer.” The opera is being revived for the first time since 2020 and with it the company has lined up an all-star cast of Wagnerian singers. Among them is Elza van den Heever. The South {…}
(Credit Fabrizio Sansoni) This week the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to open a new production of Janáček’s “From the House of the Dead” which will also mark the company premiere of the famed work. For this momentous occasion, the company has lined up a cast of veterans and rising stars including Mark S. Doss. Doss will return to the {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) On May 19, the Metropolitan Opera will premiere a new production of Mozart’s popular singspiel “Die Zauberflöte,” the first new staging of the famed opera at the company since 2004. It will feature an exciting cast of artists, including Lawrence Brownlee who returns to the Met for the first time since 2015. Brownlee will {…}
This week the Konzerthaus Berlin is set to world premiere Donizetti’s “Dalinda,” a reworked version of the famed “Lucrezia Borgia.” The opera, which has been restored in a new version by Eleonora Di Cintio, will star a cast of Bel Canto singers including the acclaimed tenor Luciano Ganci. Ganci will return to the Konzerthaus for the first time in five {…}
“Norma” is considered one of the most difficult soprano roles in the repertoire and for many singers, it is the pinnacle of the repertoire. But interestingly, Bellini’s masterpiece has also been performed by some mezzo-sopranos and this week, Vasilia Berzhanskaya, a mezzo, will add the demanding role to her growing Bel Canto repertoire. At the age of 29, the mezzo {…}