(Credit: Chris Kayden) The Bard Summerscape has been known for programming unknown works that are either rarely performed or have never been showcased in the United States. This year the festival dedicated its program to Korngold, one of the foremost composers of the 20th century. Continuing its tradition of performing one fully staged opera production, Bard is presenting the American {…}
Every year, the Glow Lyric Theatre does something that few other opera or musical theatres companies are willing to do – embrace the distinct art forms as siblings and celebrate their unique differences and similarities. For several years the company has put on three shows in its summer season: an opera, an operetta, and a piece of musical theatre. But {…}
It was announced on Wednesday that Roxie Perkins and Ellen Reid’s “p r i s m” had won the Music Critics Association of North America third Annual Award for Best New Opera, following in the footsteps of such works as “Breaking the Waves” and “The Wake World.” The opera, which premiered on November 29, 2018, as part of Los Angeles Opera’s {…}
(Credit: Noelia Pirsic) “Do you live from singing opera?” “Is it difficult to sing that way?” “Is it hard to memorize the lyrics?” “How do you resist singing for so long?” The doubts of 10-year-old kids in wonder flew like ping-pong balls during one of the open rehearsals for “Hansel & Gretel” that took place in the hall of the San {…}
(Production photo: Duane Tinkey/Des Moines Metro Opera’s “Billy Goats Gruff”) Father of six, retired bass-baritone John Davies first attempted to write a children’s opera for an unusual reason. “Around 1978,” he remembered in an interview with OperaWire, “it seemed to me that the tobacco industry was advertising to my young children, with the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel, and Virginia Slims {…}
(Photo: Jonas Lampens) The great castrato, Carlo Maria Michelangelo Broschi, better known as Farinelli, had such impact on 18th century opera-seria that his fame has lasted down the centuries, so that even today his name remains well-known amongst opera-goers. His older brother, Riccardo Broschi, however is less well-known, few will recognize his name. Yet, during his lifetime he was a {…}
(Credit: Steven Pisano) In 2018 the Teatro Nuovo was created to continue the legacy of Bel Canto at Caramoor and to propagate the exploration of neglected Bel canto and Italiana operas. At the head of the new company is Will Crutchfield, the artistic and general director. A conductor, musicologist, and educator, Crutchfield has been dedicated to exploring and conducting over {…}
(Credit: Theresa Pewal) When audiences check out Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” on July 5 and 7, 2019 at the York Early Music Festival and LOS St. Luke’s London, they will see the iconic opera utilizing puppetry and ancient Greek theatrical techniques. Developed under director Thomas Guthrie, with the cooperation of students at Princeton University, these techniques will showcase one of the Guthrie’s {…}
(Credit: Natalia Munro) New York opera audiences will have another opportunity to encounter one of Francis Poulenc’s works after “Dialogues des Carmélites” finished off the Met Opera season to the acclaim of audiences and critics alike. The U.S. debut of the Spanish production of “La voix humaine (“The Human Voice”),” directed by Antón Armendariz Diaz, and starring soprano Ashley Bell and {…}
It was March of 2018 and New York City Opera General Manager Michael Capasso wanted to make a big statement with his 2019 season. The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots would take place in 2019 and it was the perfect opportunity for New York City Opera, which has championed operas about the LGBTQ+ community over the last few years, {…}
This year’s schedule for Innsbruck’s Early Music Festival includes three operas from the baroque period: “La Dori” by Antonio Cesti; “Merope” by Farinelli’s brother, Riccardo Broschi, and “Ottone” by Handel. Over the next few weeks Operawire will be interviewing the three directors responsible for the staging of the operas. Cesti’s “La Dori” was written in 1657, for the Court in {…}