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 {…}
The story of Clara Josephine Wieck-Schumann and Johannes Brahms is one of both fact and myth. Through their forty years of correspondence, they expressed adoration for each other and the art of music itself. Yet, do we really know what their love was like? Fresco Opera Theatre in Wisconsin had created an opera called “Clara” to explore this relationship using {…}
Does a film titled “Opera” have to be about opera? Moreover, does it even have to use operatic music? Have we come so far as to distinguish between opera and Opera, and is there a difference between being ‘opera’ and ‘operatic?’ While the answer does not exist per se, animator Erick Oh’s short film entitled “Opera”—a Marxian look at the {…}
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 {…}
(Photo Copyright: Priska Ketterer Luzern) Known as a luminary and artistic visionary in the acoustically-focused style of “spectralism,” a creative approach towards synthesizing technological processing and the human voice, along with her profound interest in culture, philosophy, and literature, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023) is a musical icon. Pushing the limits of what music could do and achieve as an {…}
(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 {…}
The world of new opera is a fascinating place. Many new operas explore the end of time, making cake, or questionable life choices. But others cover historical moments and figures that should be explored. Composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, their new opera “Omar” looks at the figure Omar ibn Said and his life as an enslaved Muslim in America. {…}
(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 {…}
