This past week, the Arizona Opera presented the world premiere of Greg Kallor’s second opera “Frankenstein.” Kallor is a composer and pianist whose first opera “The Tell-Tale Heart” will be performed at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has also collaborated Dover and Escher String Quartets and Tuesday Musical and has also performed in recital at Carnegie Hall. {…}
Italian Maestro Daniele Callegari is scheduled to lead performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Nabucco” at The Metropolitan Opera this season, September through October 2023, and December through January 2024. The lead roles will be performed by George Gagnidze as Nabucco, Liudmyla Monastyrska as Abigaille, and Dmitry Belosselskiy as Zaccaria. Callegari made his American debut in 2007, leading a concert performance of {…}
(Photo: Amati Bacciardi) Soprano Anastasia Bartoli is a rising star on the Italian and European opera scene. Over the course of this year alone, she has received a string of glowing reviews including her performance as Cristina in “Eduardo e Cristina” at the Rossini Opera Festival. In October she will be performing Lucrezia in Verdi’s “I Due Foscari” at Venice’s {…}
In 1930, Spanish painter Elías García Martínez created a fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns in the Santuary of Mercy Church in Borja. It was called “Ecce Homo” or “Behold the Man.” Eighty-two years later, Cecilia Giménez, an 81-year-old amateur artist with minimal training, revealed to the media that she had attempted to restore the painting which had been affected {…}
On Sept. 10, Ramon Vargas celebrated his 40th anniversary as a singer in a gala at the theater where he first debuted, the Palacio de las Bellas Artes. Since that debut in 1983, Vargas has gone on to sing at every major theater in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, and many {…}
It’s late September in New York and a major European director is staging a unique new work at a historic venue. And it stars Jonas Kaufmann, making his return to the Big Apple for the first time in two years. Described by director Claus Guth as a “highly emotional trip” in a recent interview with OperaWire, “Doppelgänger” is gracing the {…}
(Credit: Matt Donnelly) At the beginning of August, around 50 students went to Vail, Colorado to participate in the Vail Opera Camp. The camp, which is a 10-day experience, brought students from ages 10 to 18 from all over the country to hone in on their craft of singing as well as learning about the art of opera from the {…}
For the Berkshire Opera Festival’s first “La Bohème,” OperaWire interviewed two of the leads, Yongzhao Yu (Rodolfo) and Véronique Filloux (Musetta). The festival, not far from the historic site of Tanglewood, has over the years gained a reputation for exciting and powerful productions. It is also known for spotting rising talent poised to reach an ever wider audience around the globe. {…}
Credit Frank Caliri Jonathan McPhee boasts a diverse musical portfolio. As the Music Director for the Lexington Symphony in Massachusetts and a Guest Conductor at the Houston Ballet, his expertise doesn’t stop there — he’s also a composer and arranger. With an affinity for arranging, he’s notably transformed grand pieces, such as Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and “Firebird” into reductions. {…}