Photo: Jamie Jung American composer Lembit Beecher has collaborated with librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell to write “A Year to the Day,” a new song cycle rooted in, but not about, the pandemic. The concept was Campbell’s, and it was he who approached the composer. Together, they wrote six songs, along with five instrumental interludes for tenor Nicholas Phan, violinist Augustin Hadelich, {…}
San Diego Opera presents the world premiere of “El último sueño de Frida y Diego / The Last Dream of Frida and Diego” on October 29, 2022, by Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Nilo Cruz. The show features mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz in the lead role as iconic painter Frida Kahlo and baritone Alfredo Daza as {…}
Born in Castro, Chile, but adopted from a very early age, Jonathan Tetelman grew up in New Jersey. He studied at Manhattan School of Music and the New School of Music and has been described as the most “exciting tenor discovery since Jonas Kaufmann,” “a total star,” and “a lyrical revelation,” among many other plaudits. Tetelman has established a very {…}
Rosetta Cucchi is a successful international stage director and the artistic director of Wexford Opera Festival. OperaWire: What was the first opera you attended? Rosetta Cucchi: “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by Rossini OW: What was the first opera you directed? RC: “La Scala di Seta” by Rossini OW: What is the next opera you are scheduled to direct? RC: “Adriana {…}
(Photo: House of Photography – Mark Ivory) There can be few singers with such a diverse and impressive CV as that of the Irish soprano Deirdre Masterson. Having made her stage debut at the age of 12 in the role of the Spirit in Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” and followed the usual training programs, she seemed destined for a successful {…}
Andrea Castello is the Artistic Director of the Vincenza in Lirica Festival. But he is a very different type of Artistic Director. For him a festival is about discovering young artists, discovering new works, and trying to challenge the norms. He is not interested in bringing the biggest names for the sake of the box office but in bringing them {…}
“What is opera, and what does ‘operatic’ and ‘opera’ mean to you?” It is a question that has the potential to uproot tradition. No longer bound by antiquated edicts, artists can now use ‘opera’ to make a statement: a profession of some emotion and inner feeling that lies deep within their core. It is my goal, through interviews with all {…}
“O brave new world that has such creativity in’t!’ “Prospero’s Island,” the forthcoming chamber opera by composer Allen Shearer and librettist Claudia Stevens, tells the tale. Ninth Planet, in co-production with InTandem, will present the world premiere at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater on March 25, 2023. It is to be performed by a cadre of young and exceptionally talented musical {…}
Renée Fleming continues to push the boundaries as an artist. She has been an influential opera singer, recitalist, and mentor, and has built one of the most significant discographies of her generation. Her voice has been featured in many films and she has even done some cross-over work in jazz and rock. Now the soprano brings her artistic vision to {…}
