(Credit: Emily Shur) When the Metropolitan Opera announced that Emmy Award–winning actress Sandra Oh would make her debut this season as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment,” my first thought was: finally. Finally, the Met has made a casting decision that is not just exciting but relevant. The Duchess of Krakenthorp is a speaking role, traditionally {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) This week, the Teatro Real de Madrid is set to open the 2025-26 season with a revival production of “Otello.” The production will star two of the world’s most important dramatic voices, including Brian Jagde, who will sing the title role for the first time. Otello is known as one of the most challenging roles in {…}
Much ink has been spilled, in varying shades of nostalgia, on the unravelling of the contracts, institutions, and principles that have fostered peace and prosperity since the end of the Second World War. Undoubtedly, much of this concern is justified: in Europe, national borders are once again flexible around the whims of the powerful; Multilateral Organisations have demonstrated their hollowness {…}
(Credit: Zakiyah Caldwell Burroughs) September 8 would have been a day of infamy for tenor Lawrence Brownlee. The American tenor, who in addition to his immense talents as a singer, has also been a bright light as an activist for promoting Black composers, inclusivity, and his work with civic groups around the opera world, was primed to make one of {…}
(Credit: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera) At the start of the War in Ukraine, General Manager Peter Gelb made a proclamation, “We can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him—not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored, and restitutions have been made.” The statement was clear as {…}
It is rather easy to find operas dealing with religious persecution, ideological conflict, and personal struggles. From well beloved 20th century examples like Messiaen’s “Saint François d’Assise” (1975-79), Britten’s “The Prodigal Son” (1968), and, my personal favorite, Poulenc’s “Dialogues des carmélites” (1956), to revolutionary works like Strauss’ “Salome” (1905), Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna” (1921), and Schoenberg’s “Moses und Aron” (1932), the {…}
In the body of opera-oriented films, from contemporary works like ‘The Moon and the Stars‘ (2007), and ‘Florence Foster Jenkins‘ (2016), to earlier icons like ‘Fire at the Opera‘ (1930) and ‘Champagne Waltz‘ (1939), the ways opera and operatic life is conveyed on screen is highly diverse. However, go far enough backwards and one will find a way of conveying the operatic body {…}
Photo Credit: Arnaldo Colombaroli/Teatro Colon. Throughout opera, one can find tales of undeserved execution, unjust torture, and brutal treatment. Yet, one can also find tales of noble bravery, stalwart moral goodness, and uncompromisable virtue. Two sides of human nature, brutality is often not far from humanity and in opera, we are able to see this in spades. These stories, however, {…}
On July 18, the Bayerische Staatsoper will open a new production of Fauré’s rarely performed work “Penelope.” Based on the famed Homer epic poem, The “Odyssey,” the work, will receive a new production by Andrea Berth and will star the rising mezzo-soprano Victoria Karkacheva. The Russian will not only make her role debut in the title role, but she will {…}
