(Credit: Dario Acosta) Sarah Mesko is walking a straight path toward an important career. The Arkansas native has built her success on solid academic training and noteworthy apprenticeships, and has received bundles of prestigious awards in return. She has performed with scores of professional companies in the United States, including the Met where she has paid her dues as a {…}
(Credit: Alexey Kostromin) When you think of Verdi mezzo, there are few singers that fit that bill as well as Russian artist Ekaterina Semenchuk. For years now, she has been the go-to mezzo-soprano in Verdi’s major roles, finding major triumphs at such venues as the Opéra National de Paris, the Teatro Real de Madrid, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the {…}
Sherezade Panthaki is one of today’s most recognized Baroque singers. An acknowledged star in the early-music field, she has performed with some of the most prestigious Baroque and early period orchestras, as well as with such prominent conductors as Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Mark Morris, Nicholas Kraemer, Matthew Halls, Paul Agnew, and Lawrence Cummings. This weekend, Sherezade Panthaki returns to {…}
(Credit: Rokas Baltakys) In just a little over a year or so, Soprano Asmik Grigorian has jumped into the spotlight and remained at the forefront of the opera world. The big reason for the soprano’s rise to the forefront is her now iconic interpretation of “Salome” at the Salzburg Festival. “The Lithuanian soprano captivates the audience as much as she {…}
“This is the greatest miracle of science and technology,” said lyric soprano Dr. Anne Walker in a recent chat with OperaWire. “I’m not sure where it’s going, but I know it’s not for nothing.” Though her destination may be uncertain, she has come from a place of feeling isolated and ashamed. Artistically Compromised Over 15 years ago, before she turned {…}
(Credit: © ROH Photographer: CLIVE BARDA) The influx of new and younger opera stars is always a major touchstone of the art form across generations. But the old guard is a key part of their development, presenting a gateway between traditions of the past and today’s trends. Italian bass Maurizio Muraro loves being a part of this bridge. He has {…}
(Photo: Giulia Papetti) Last summer, the Vivaldi Edition, devoted to recording the entire Foà and Giordano Collection of nearly 450 Vivaldi manuscripts, released two recordings. Both discs, one of sacred music and the other of secular music, are for the contralto voice. The soloist on both discs is Delphine Galou, the French baroque specialist whose distinctive voice has drawn high {…}
Rossini is one of opera’s most popular composer and throughout the past centuries, his works have given the world a plethora of an incredible interpreters. Today, Rossini’s popularity is as big as ever with an increased number of devotees and interpreters tackling not only his most famous operas, but some of his rare gems. Italian bass Carlo Lepore is one {…}
(Credit: Aleksandra Jovanović) Young Serbian soprano Aleksandra Jovanović‘s career has exploded in 2019 with invitations for major international debuts at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and Opéra de Paris. She has also had renowned performances in recent major competitions. In 2018 she was awarded third place at the international competition “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” which was followed by {…}
Those following the opera world and its biggest news items know what happened on Sept. 28, 2019. In the midst of a tumultous week in which the Met Opera’s “Macbeth” featured major cast turnover, there was still one big twist set to take place without much audience anticipation – a new baritone was to make a surprising debut in the {…}
One day, as a 16-year-old, tenor Piero Pretti, was invited by Fabrizio Ruiu to audition for a polyphonic choir. That moment would have tremendous implications for the Sardinian tenor. Not only would Ruiu, a close friend from childhood, become the best man at his wedding, but this audition would change Pretti’s life forever. “I fell in love with it,” he {…}