For this edition of the word search, we are going to spotlight some of the most renowned opera companies in the world. Instructions: You are free to solve the word search directly on your mobile or desktop device; just click the first and last letter of each word for it to appear on the screen. For those using a mobile {…}
Ever since Terrence Blanchard’s opera “Champion” received its premiere in 2013, the opera has traveled to Washington D.C and San Francisco. It is also set to make its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2022-23 season. But before that, the Boston Lyric Opera will bring the work to its audiences after having been postponed in 2020. Leading the cast {…}
(Credit: Monika Ritterhaus) A lot of modern opera is based on original and new stories. But it wasn’t always like that. For hundreds of years, operas in the standard repertory, regardless of their style (baroque, classical, romantic, impressionistic) were based on some other story or event. So in honor of that unique aspect of opera (other art forms are also {…}
This week, the Dutch National Opera will present a new production of “Anna Bolena” with a stellar cast headlined by rising star, Raffaella Lupinacci in her house debut. The Italian Mezzo-soprano will bring her acclaimed Giovanna Seymour to the Dutch house. The mezzo has performed the role at the Teatro Carlo Felice and Lithuanian Opera where critics have raved stating, {…}
(Credit: Roberto Ricci) On April 28, the Festival Verdi held a Spring Gala at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. The gala event was especially organized for the International Friends of Festival Verdi, which represent a number of donors who give to the annual festival held in September. The gala opened with a General reception and was followed by {…}
On May 7, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna will open a new production of “Lucrezia Borgia,” one of Donizetti’s most popular works and one that has become a vehicle for a star soprano to show her vocal fireworks. However, it is also one of the composer’s most dramatic works and one that contains some of Donizetti’s most mature music. In {…}
(Credit: Sabrina Ceballos) Verdi’s “Alzira” is likely the composer’s least-known opera. Its rarely staged or performed and it received mixed reviews when it first premiered in 1845. This week the Bilbao Opera is reviving the work in a co-production with the Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú and Opéra Royal Wallonie-Liège with well-known Verdi singers including soprano Carmen Solis. The Spanish {…}
We all know Disney’s rendition of “The Little Mermaid,” and are familiar with its transformation of Hans Christian Anderson’s oft-disturbing 1837 fairy tale into a heartwarming, family-friendly story of love and adventure. The original narrative is far more Wagnerian than Mozartian in dramatic tenor, due to Anderson’s synthesis of intense pathos with virtuous rebirth. In the Disney version, Ariel—who is {…}
On April 10, the Opernhaus Zürich will revive its acclaimed production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The production will feature veteran performers and some of the most acclaimed interpreters of the opera. However, there will be a newcomer to the opera, Sandra Hamaoui. The French-American soprano will make her role debut as Gilda following her successful turn as Constance in a new {…}
