Photos: Frances Marshall “At Home With… ” is a collaboration between OperaWire and photographer Frances Marshall of Marshall Light Studio, combining original photography with insightful interviews that reveal the human side of those we see on stage. Star Scottish tenor Nicky Spence and his fiancé, accompanist Dylan Perez, have a big day ahead of them. The two will marry on {…}
“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This month, we return to Goethe, this time with Jules Massenet’s poignant adaptation of his name-making novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” The following contains discussion {…}
On Dec. 17, the Teatro Mayor Julio Santo Domingo in Bogota will present a new production of “Tosca” with an international cast and international conductor. Among the cast members is British tenor Adam Smith who will sing the role of Cavaradossi. Smith will make his debut at the prestigious Colombian house in a role he debuted earlier this year at {…}
(Credit: Teatro alla Scala / Brescia – Amisano) One of the most important days on the opera world calendar is the opening of the Teatro alla Scala. Big stars. New productions. At the close of the calendar year. All at the world’s most legendary opera house. No surprise that this year is as big as any other with the company {…}
So for those wondering what this is, we are trying something a little new at OperaWire. Chris Ruel, one of our long-time writers, is in the midst of publishing his very first novel “Come to Me Darkness.” And what do you know? It’s set in the opera world and spotlights two singers, their love affair, their tortured pasts, and a {…}
This week the Opernahus Zürich will open a new production of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” continuing its Tudor cycle with director David Alden furthering his exploration of the queens after receiving rave reviews for “Maria Stuarda.” Despite Alden’s prominence in the director’s chair there’s no doubt that the spotlight of this production will shine most fiercely on soprano Diana Damrau as {…}
“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This month, we return to Pushkin and Tchaikovsky with “The Queen of Spades”, where an opera has expanded the original novella, radically altering characters and atmosphere {…}
On Nov. 19, the English National Opera will open a new Ring Cycle. The production will mark the first time the company stages the monumental tetralogy in more than 15 years. Taking on this major task is director Richard Jones. Jones first staged Wagner’s Cycle in 1989 at the Scottish Opera before bringing his take in 1993 to the Royal {…}
(Credit: Courtesy Lester Dequaine Collection on Rosa Ponselle, Arthur Friedheim Library, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University) The customs agent stationed on the wharf wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing. An imposing, dark-haired woman with large brown eyes was preparing to board a ship for a voyage to the United States. Wrapped around her shoulder was what appeared to be {…}
