Daniel Brenna is one of the best-known heldentenors of his generation, singing across the world in many of the greatest theaters. His repertoire is immense and he is one of the few tenors right now regularly performing the role of Siegfried. And this week, he brings an original version of this interpretation in Vienna. Brenna will sing The Ring Trilogy {…}
Nathan Gunn is one of America’s great modern-day baritones. Born on Nov. 26, 1970, he has had a wide-ranging career that has seen him appear in a wide range of repertoire, from classics by Mozart and Rossini, to romantic works from the French masters, to a number of modern operas. The latter operas are the ones in which he has {…}
Tenor Alfredo Kraus is undeniably one of the greatest artists in the history of opera. Born 90 years ago on Nov. 24, 1927, the tenor had a superlative technique that allowed him to become one of the prolific tenors of his era. He excelled in the bel canto repertoire and took on the French masters, but he also specialized in {…}
English composer Benjamin Britten holds a reputation as one of the most prolific figures in 20th-century music. With a massive centennial celebration held worldwide just four years ago, his legacy is still preserved today as opera houses around the world continue to stage his legendary pieces. Britten was born on Nov. 22, 1913, and not a day has gone by where {…}
Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s passing is one of the unfortunate events of the modern opera world. A baritone gifted with an elegant sound and an ever-evolving musical maturity that made him so exciting and powerful to watch. He could dominate in French, Italian, or his native Russian, leaving us some of the finest interpretations of recent memory. As we look back on {…}
It’s the holiday season and that means gift buying and making difficult choices. As a result, OperaWire has lightened the task as we chose albums from some of our favorite artists and our key recommendations from the hundreds of releases from 2017. Maria Callas If you are going to spend money this year, Maria Callas: The Live Recordings is OperaWire’s {…}
Rene Kollo (or René Kollodzieyski, as he was born on Nov. 20, 1937), was a renowned Wagnerian tenor. He took on every major leading role by the great composer, recording almost all of his interpretations to great acclaim with the best of conductors. His Siegfried was recorded with Wolfgang Sawallisch, his Lohengrin and Walther von Stolzing with Herbert Von Karajan, {…}
This week, John Adams fifth opera “Girls of the Golden West” makes its world premiere at the San Francisco Opera. The premiere will mark the second time one of Adams’ operas opens at the company. The new work is inspired by the 1851/1852 letters of Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe who lived for a year and a half in the {…}
Agnes Baltsa is one of Greece’s gift to the opera world. Born on Nov. 19, 1944, the mezzo-soprano put together one of the most exciting opera careers in the 20th century. She actually started playing the piano at age six and moved to Athens at the age of 14 to concentrate on developing her voice. From there she climbed the {…}
