This week the Dallas Opera is set to world premiere “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” The opera was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19. For the production, Grammy Award–winning baritone Lucas Meachem will star as journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby who awakes from a coma unable to move or speak. Based on a memoir from 1997, the {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl) This week, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s latest work “Intelligence” will make its world premiere at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO). Moreover, this production represents an extension of the long-standing relationship between Heggie and HGO, as the company has also showcased the first performances of “End of the Affair (2004),” “Three Decembers (2008),” “Pieces of 9/11 (2011),” {…}
This week the Metropolitan Opera opened its 2023-24 season with the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” with it an all-star cast. Among the performers is Latonia Moore, making her role debut as Sister Rose. In a recent interview with OperaWire, Moore noted that Heggie music “is composed in a Bel Canto way and composed with the singer {…}
The week the San Francisco Opera will showcase “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” for the first time in the company’s history. The production will feature a cast that includes Joseph Lattanzi, a baritone making his debut with the San Francisco Opera in the role Paul Jobs for the very first time. Over the past years, Lattanzi has been on the {…}
This week the Opera A Coruña is set to open its 2023-24 season with a production of “Aida” in a new production that will be headlined by one of the most exciting rising stars in opera, Marigona Qerkezi. Qerkezi, who began her career with lyric and coloratura roles, has swiftly moved into taking on Verdi operas, performing such works as {…}
(Photo credit: Kristen Loken) On Sept. 9, Opera San José will open its 40th anniversary with a new production of Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” by Shawna Lucey. The production will mark the role debuts of several artists who are also rising stars in the opera world. One of those artists is Joshua Sanders who will take on the lead role {…}
This week the Festival Opera is set to open its production of “Carmen” with a cast of rising stars including Nikola Printz, who is well-known for their interpretation of the iconic heroine. Over the years Printz has performed Carmen to great acclaim with the West Bay Opera, Opera Modesto, Opera San Jose, and Shreveport Opera, among others. Printz has had {…}
This week the Rossini Opera Festival is set to open with a rarely performed work, “Eduardo e Cristina.” It will be the first time the work is produced by the festival. In this premiere, the Fondazione Rossini will perform a new critical edition, edited by Alice Tavilla and Andrea Malnati. The production will bring some of the best Rossini singers {…}
This week, Piotr Beczała returns to Italy for his highly anticipated debut at the Arena di Verona. The Polish tenor, who is one of the most acclaimed singers of his generation has not performed at any major Italian theater since 2013; the tenor noted 10 years ago that he would not return to Italy after he was booed at the {…}
(Credit: (c) ROH 2021) This week, the Salzburg Festival is set to open its new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” with a stellar cast that includes one of today’s most exciting artists at the festival, Asmik Grigorian. Ever since her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2017 as Marie in “Wozzeck,” Grigorian has become a favorite of the festival. She has {…}
(Credit: Wiener Staatsoper) It’s a big week for Juan Diego Flórez – the Peruvian tenor is set to take the stage of the Arena di Verona for the first time. Following a career that has led him to some of the most important Italian theaters in the world, including the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro dell’Opera di {…}