(Credit: Gillian Riesen) ***Editorial Note – This interview was conducted as part of series of interviews dedicated to previewing the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, that performance was canceled, but out of respect to the time put into this project by the artists and organizations, we will endeavor to publish the over coming days and weeks.(Given the context, {…}
A growing number of participants are joining an online Zoom performance of Pauline Oliveros’s “The World Wide Tuning Meditation” each Saturday. Together, Raquel Klein of Music on the Rebound, Ione, Claire Chase, International Contemporary Ensemble, and other passionate co-coordinators invite anyone curious to embark on the art of virtually discovering a special connection during the COVID-19 crisis. Composer Pauline Oliveros, {…}
Opera is forbidden in Iran. For years, Opera has been banned in the country despite palpable progress that saw the opera house open in 2013 for a production of “Gianni Schicchi” and the reopening of the opera house in 2015. There was even an all-women’s production of “Carmen.” But for opera singers who continue to pursue this artform in Iran, {…}
(Credit: Gerard Collett) On the eastern side of the Cape of Good Hope, at the very tip of South Africa, sits Port Elizabeth, a city with a population just shy of one million people. The population size matters because it makes soprano Vuvu Mpofu one in a million, a ratio perhaps not unlike the shot she had at making it {…}
Over the last few years, Sarah Vautour has been slowly but surely making herself a major force in the Los Angeles Opera scene. The soprano has been a young artist at the Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program since 2018 making her debut with the LA Opera under the baton of James Conlon and taking on the role of Papagena in “The {…}
Russian soprano Maria Maksakova has led a storied life in the performing arts. Coming from a family of prominent artists, Maksakova performed with leading Russian theaters such as the Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Helikon Opera; internationally, she has sung on stages in Tokyo, Vienna, London, Helsinki, and Baden-Baden. On the screen, Maksakova has served as a TV presenter and co-host {…}
(Credit: Jon Adjahoe) ***Editorial Note – This interview was conducted as part of series of interviews dedicated to previewing the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ring Cycle. Unfortunately, that performance was canceled, but out of respect to the time put into this project by the artists and organizations, we will endeavor to publish the over coming days and weeks.(Given the context, {…}
(Credit: Paul Foster-Williams) In recent seasons, British soprano Emma Bell has developed her repertoire, moving from the Mozart heroines, with which she established her career, to the key dramatic roles of Wagner and Beethoven. She has performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, among others. OperaWire {…}
While soprano Marina Rebeka has taken on a slew of roles in her career, it is fair to say that few have had as big an impact as that of Violetta in “La Traviata.” It is a role that she has dominated in over 18 different productions over the better part of the last decade. It is one that she {…}
(Credit: Allan Richard Tobis) Russian lyric coloratura soprano Elena Tsallagova is a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She has performed on a number of the biggest opera stages in the world, including Opéra National de Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others. Known for her deep vocal versatility and theatrical prowess, Tsallagova has performed title {…}
(Credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke) Few tenors today have the Wagnerian pedigree that Stuart Skelton has. The Australian tenor, who has taken on pretty much every major role by the master of Bayreuth, has opened major productions of Wagner’s operas around the world. In the midst of his recent production of “Die Walküre” at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Operawire had an {…}