Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas is no stranger to Verdi’s “Don Carlo.” The Mexican tenor, who takes on the role at the Los Angeles Opera for the first time this season on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2018, has performed the role all around the world. He has appeared as the Spanish prince in Vienna, in Munich, and in Zurich, among other cities. {…}
How do you make a younger audience go to the opera? That was the question that always haunted writer Cerise Jacobs through the years as she wrote numerous librettos and operas. It always confounded her that her son never showed interest in the works she created. But it was ultimately this question that inspired her to make the first video {…}
Baroque opera’s popularity is growing every year. You’ve felt it. I’ve felt it. I think everyone in the opera world is feeling it. Everywhere you look, major companies are putting on more works by Handel or Monteverdi. And if those big names aren’t producing them, then you are starting to see smaller companies take on the responsibility of presenting some {…}
The title role in Puccini’s “Tosca” is quite possibly the biggest diva in all of opera. The role requires stamina, vocal prowess and an incredible singing actress who can convey all the complex emotions the character faces throughout the evening. It’s a role that every soprano dreams of and one that can elevate a career to stardom. It’s a role {…}
On Sept. 14, 2018, Paul Weitz’s latest film “Bel Canto” will be released in movie theaters nationwide. The film, adapted from the 2001 Anne Patchett novel of the same name, drew inspiration from the Japanese Embassy Hostage Crisis of 1996-97 and has become popular throughout the years. In 2015, the novel was turned into an opera, which was commissioned by {…}
The Atlanta Opera is on the upswing and becoming one of the most exciting opera companies in America. This is best evidenced by the company’s upcoming 2018-19 season which will feature an assortment of modern and classic works. The opera’s growth and expansiveness could be directly attributed to the man in charge, Tomer Zvulun, whose reforms to the company since {…}
One of the events at this year’s “Vicenza in Lirica” was a production of Henry Purcell’s semi-opera “King Arthur,” in collaboration with the Conservatory “A. Pedrollo” of Vicenza, which provided a marvellous opportunity for its students to perform in front of the paying public in the magnificent surroundings of the Teatro Olimpico, the oldest indoor theatre in Europe. OperaWire was {…}
Of all the questions I asked Jeanne Pansard-Besson, who was deep in final rehearsals for a “Don Giovanni” at the New Generation Festival in Florence, there was one I was especially interested in hearing her answer to – In this age of on-demand everything (streaming, smart phones, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and what many people consider the very shrinking short–attention {…}
Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov is one of the leading singers of his generation performing in many of the world’s leading companies. He has performed in such theaters as the Plovdiv Opera House, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Berlin State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Zürich Opera, Teatro Real, La Fenice, Teatro Regio, Teatro Massimo, Royal Swedish Opera, and San Francisco Opera, {…}
