For many, Kathryn Lewek IS the Queen of the Night. She holds the record for most performances of the role at the Metropolitan Opera and has taken her interpretation of the famed villain to opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, among many, many others. This summer, she will {…}
(Photo © Rikimaru Hotta) When he was 10-years-old, Kazushi Ōno went to the opera for the first time. What opera did he witness? “La Traviata.” He was hooked. This led him to study at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music before he headed off to Germany to study as a scholar of the Japanese Ministry of Culture {…}
With less than a month to go before the start of Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival, OperaWire met up with one of this season’s stars, mezzo-soprano Raffaella Lupinacci, who will be playing the role of Arsace in Rossini’s opera seria “Aureliano in Palmira,” which premiered at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in 1813. Although it is not one of Rossini’s better-known operas, {…}
It all started in high school for mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon. Since her father was in the military, Dixon was constantly on the move with her family. Eventually, they settled in Georgia, where Dixon “begged” her parents to put her in the choir so that she could spend some time with friends she had just made. “Little did we know it {…}
(Credit: ©MarcoBorrelli) For conductor Vincenzo Milletarì, it’s all about Puccini at the moment. In April, he conducted “La Bohème” at the Göteborg Opera and this summer he will take on “Tosca” at the Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus. Known for his work on Italian repertoire and as one of the rising stars of his generation, Milletarì spoke to OperaWire about {…}
(Photo Credit: andre uspensky) Russian Mezzo-Soprano Aigul Akhmetshina is being hailed as one of the most exciting opera singers in a generation. Called “The New Netrebko” by renowned critic David Mellor, she sings with a rare, coloratura mezzo voice. A luminary of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, she debuted at just 21-years-old at the Royal Opera House in the {…}
(Photo Credit: Eliana Brea) For two-plus hours, the American Ballet Theatre’s “Like Water for Chocolate” takes the audience member on a rapturous journey about star-crossed lovers, Tita and Pedro, struggling with death and loss over the course of half a century. The work, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and with music by Joby Talbot, is an adaptation of the iconic novel {…}
(Credit: ©Gemma Escribano) After having performed all over the world at the Teatro Regio di Parma, Donizetti Opera Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Regio di Torino, and Royal Opera Muscat, among many others, there can be no doubt that Marko Mimica is one of opera’s rising stars. And this month, the bass-baritone will {…}
(Photo: Chiara Mirelli) Mezzo-soprano Raffaella Lupinacci, having just completed a run of performances as Giovanna Seymour in La Monnaie’s presentation of “Bastarda,” a larger-than-life presentation of Queen Elizabeth I as seen through the musical highlights of Donizetti’s Tudor tetralogy, is currently preparing for the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, in which she will play the role of Arsace in “Aureliano {…}
(Photo Credit; Marco Borrelli) The talented conductor, Michele Spotti, made his debut at Les Arts conducting “Ernani” on June 7th. Spotti was also recently named Music Director of the Marseille opera and orchestra, at the young age of 29. He discovered music at the age of three because his grandmother, a musician, told him musical tales. He is married to {…}
(Photo by Olivia Kahler) American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is known for her diverse repertoire ranging from Mozart to Wagner. She has performed at leading opera houses around the world to high acclaim. She won first prize at the 2014 Operalia competition in Los Angeles and at the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, and she was a winner of the {…}