Baritone Željko Lučić was born in Serbia, in a small town of Zrenjanin, northeast of the capital Belgrade. For anyone familiar with the looks of historical small towns in the countries of the Western Balkan, this is a significant fact. “Yes, my hometown is indeed a small one, but also an absolutely wonderful place,” Lučić, smiling, told OperaWire in a recent {…}
Young Thomas Conlin was very exciting about his first contact with the classical music. His parents bought a piano for him, and he wasn’t able to resist the temptation. “When I was five-years-old my father won a piano in a contest,” Conlin reminisced in a recent interview with OperaWire. “From the day the piano was delivered I couldn’t keep my {…}
(Credit: Dragosh Cojocaru) In 2011, Moldovian soprano Valentina Nafornița won the first prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and quickly became an ensemble member of the Wiener Staatsoper. From that moment on, she obtained a number of important assignments around the world, making debuts at the Salzburg Festival, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opéra de Lausanne, and Opéra {…}
Opera on the James, located in Lynchburg, Virginia named singer, director, and teacher, Marco Nisticò General Director this past June. Nisticò summed up his mission on the company’s website, saying, “[Opera] has the capacity to move, inspire, provoke thought, and entertain. It helps us to understand who we are and how we relate to each other. As director of Opera {…}
(Credit: © Joan Tomás – Fidelio Artist) In 2019 the Donizetti Opera Festival celebrated its fifth anniversary after winning the prestigious Best Festival at the Oper! Magazine Awards. The festival showcased three works by the famed composer that brought an international audience and a number of rising stars and international singers. It was also the second year for famed conductor {…}
(Credits: Patricia Varela) Young Norwegian soprano Elisabeth Teige has established herself as one of the most sought-after dramatic sopranos of her generation. She has appeared in the number of dramatic roles including Senta in “Der Fliegende Holländer,” Leonore in “Fidelio,” Cio-Cio-San in “Madama Butterfly,” Irene Wagner’s “Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen,” Elsa in “Lohengrin,” and the title character of Puccini’s {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) Mexican tenor Javier Camarena really needs no introduction. As one of the foremost tenors in the world, he has become a fixture at all the major opera houses. However, he has forged a particularly unique one with the Teatro Real de Madrid where audiences have witnessed some of his biggest triumphs. He performed the now legendary {…}
(Provided by Zoran Todorovich ) Zoran Todorovich was never going to be an opera star. The tenor, who was born in 1961 during golden years of former Yugoslavia, grew up with a non-musical family. “I was very happy to have wonderful parents and to grow up in a family full of love,” he told OperaWire in a recent interview. “Growing {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) Few sopranos have defined the last decade the way that Bulgarian diva Sonya Yoncheva has. Since her major victory at the Operalia Competition in 2010, Yoncheva has become a household headliner at all the major opera houses around the world. But what has arguably distinguished the soprano over these past few years has been her willingness to {…}