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 {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) On May 19, the Metropolitan Opera will premiere a new production of Mozart’s popular singspiel “Die Zauberflöte,” the first new staging of the famed opera at the company since 2004. It will feature an exciting cast of artists, including Lawrence Brownlee who returns to the Met for the first time since 2015. Brownlee will {…}
This week the Konzerthaus Berlin is set to world premiere Donizetti’s “Dalinda,” a reworked version of the famed “Lucrezia Borgia.” The opera, which has been restored in a new version by Eleonora Di Cintio, will star a cast of Bel Canto singers including the acclaimed tenor Luciano Ganci. Ganci will return to the Konzerthaus for the first time in five {…}
Operas about the optimistic sides of mental health seem rare. Of course, we have opera concerning the fall of man and women, the results of a life mired by guilt and anger, the pursuits of love, and the death of loved ones. There are operas about the destruction of the world, the persecution of innocence, and the futility of trying {…}
