It all started in high school for mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon. Since her father was in the military, Dixon was constantly on the move with her family. Eventually, they settled in Georgia, where Dixon “begged” her parents to put her in the choir so that she could spend some time with friends she had just made. “Little did we know it {…}
(Credit: ©MarcoBorrelli) For conductor Vincenzo Milletarì, it’s all about Puccini at the moment. In April, he conducted “La Bohème” at the Göteborg Opera and this summer he will take on “Tosca” at the Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus. Known for his work on Italian repertoire and as one of the rising stars of his generation, Milletarì spoke to OperaWire about {…}
(Photo Credit: andre uspensky) Russian Mezzo-Soprano Aigul Akhmetshina is being hailed as one of the most exciting opera singers in a generation. Called “The New Netrebko” by renowned critic David Mellor, she sings with a rare, coloratura mezzo voice. A luminary of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, she debuted at just 21-years-old at the Royal Opera House in the {…}
(Photo Credit: Eliana Brea) For two-plus hours, the American Ballet Theatre’s “Like Water for Chocolate” takes the audience member on a rapturous journey about star-crossed lovers, Tita and Pedro, struggling with death and loss over the course of half a century. The work, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and with music by Joby Talbot, is an adaptation of the iconic novel {…}
(Credit: ©Gemma Escribano) After having performed all over the world at the Teatro Regio di Parma, Donizetti Opera Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Regio di Torino, and Royal Opera Muscat, among many others, there can be no doubt that Marko Mimica is one of opera’s rising stars. And this month, the bass-baritone will {…}
With the proposal to reconstruct the world’s first public opera house, Venice’s Teatro San Cassiano, developing apace, OperaWire took the opportunity to meet up with its artistic director, Andrea Marcon, to discuss his aims, justifications, expectations, and hopes for the project. Marcon is one of the world’s leading exponents of baroque repertoire and has conducted performances across the globe, from {…}
(Photo: Chiara Mirelli) Mezzo-soprano Raffaella Lupinacci, having just completed a run of performances as Giovanna Seymour in La Monnaie’s presentation of “Bastarda,” a larger-than-life presentation of Queen Elizabeth I as seen through the musical highlights of Donizetti’s Tudor tetralogy, is currently preparing for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, in which she will play the role of Arsace in “Aureliano {…}
Earlier this month, Catapult Opera released “SWANN,” a short film by Tamar-kali and James Blaszko, that spotlights William Dorsey Swann, “the first person known to dub himself a ‘queen of drag’ and the first American on record to pursue legal and political action to defend the LGBTQ+ community’s right to gather.” Tamar-kali is a Brooklyn native who is a multi-hyphenate artist {…}
(Photo Credit; Marco Borrelli) The talented conductor, Michele Spotti, made his debut at Les Arts conducting “Ernani” on June 7th. Spotti was also recently named Music Director of the Marseille opera and orchestra, at the young age of 29. He discovered music at the age of three because his grandmother, a musician, told him musical tales. He is married to {…}