What do you do once you have retired from singing? Some opera singers dedicate themselves to teaching while others begin directing. Others, still, begin young artist programs. For legendary soprano Lucine Amara, now 92, it’s about all of these as she has devoted her energy to building an opera company that gives an opportunity to young singers. For the past {…}
George Gagnidze is one of today’s leading baritones and one of the Metropolitan Opera’s leading singers. Throughout the past few years, he has been invited to some of the most prestigious theaters in the world including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin among others. This season he returns to the Met for a double bill {…}
He’s 36 years old. He lives in an RV that he uses to travel across the US. He’s coming off a summer in which he scored one of his greatest career victories to date. And he’s also that rare breed of dramatic tenor that takes well to Wagner’s operas. He’s so adept at the musical style that he is the {…}
Ever heard of a VR opera? Most opera lovers probably haven’t as it is a recent experiment that Opera On Tap has engaged in. The company recently released “The Parksville Murders,” an opera that combines music with film and VR. It experiments with voice, sound, and musical styles to create an engrossing and enriching experience. OperaWire sat down with Anne {…}
It all started with a phone call. Countertenor Iestyn Davies was just going about his usual business when Claire van Kampen called him up to make an offer. She had been preparing “Farinelli and the King” when she heard a voice on the radio. A countertenor to be sure. The singer in question? Davies. She knew that she had to {…}
For 30 years Maria Guleghina has dominated the operatic stage. She has built a career singing a diverse range of repertoire from Verdi to verismo to bel canto and it has all brought her huge successes. With a career that has taken her to Teatro alla Scala to the Royal Opera House to the Vienna State Opera and, most importantly, the Metropolitan Opera, {…}
Every single year, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir puts on the holiday performance of Utah. And a year later, audiences around the world get to revel in its beauty via PBS. This year’s showcase, scheduled for Dec. 15, 2017 on PBS and on Dec. 17 on BYUtv, is set to be no different. Since its inception in 2000, the “Christmas with {…}
Carnegie Hall. Name a musician who doesn’t dream of performing there. It is the benchmark for greatness in the world of music with tons of myths revolving around succeeding there. Soprano Laura Alonso Padin is set to cross that threshold when she makes her solo recital debut in Weill Hall. “I have done work with the Dallas Symphony, an opera {…}
Back in 1973, 32-year-old conductor John Nelson took the stage at Carnegie Hall. He was leading his first-ever performance of Berlioz’s monumental opera “Les Troyens.” Little did he know at that moment that the piece could come to become one of the most important of his entire career. “I was a kid back then,” the conductor told OperaWire in a {…}