Juan Diego Flórez, Leontyne Price, June Anderson, Leo Nucci, Sondra Radvanovsky Headline Top 10 Operas to Stream This Week

By David Salazar

In keeping with last week’s themes of dialogue regarding racial equality in the opera world, we highly recommend checking out the several online shows such as Karen Slack’s “KikiKonversations,” Kenneth Overton’s “Black Opera Live,” and The Sitdown with LB,” hosted by Lawrence Brownlee.

There is also a new conversation from Long Beach Opera regarding “Equity & Diversity in the Arts” that is definitely worth a major look (check it out here). Artists engaged in that conversation include Julia Bullock, Soloman Howard, Ailyn Pérez, Karen Slack, Kenneth Overton, Andrew Stenson, Brandon Bell, Dr. Naomi André, and Dr. Derrell Acon.  There are also performances by John Holiday, Kevin Miller, Julia Bullock, Christian Reif, and Soloman Howard.

Here are a number of other opera performances you can check out online this week.

Monday Concert – Bayerische Staatsoper (June 15)

The Bayerische continues its ever-popular Monday concert series with a showcase that features music by Poulenc, Mozart, Grigorovich, Wheeldon, and Petipa as performed by the Bayerisches Staatsballet and Bayerische Staatsorchester.

Opera stars Ekaterina Siurina and Charles Castronovo will be the main attraction for opera lovers in music by Gounod, Bizet, Massenet, Verdi, and Puccini. They will be accompanied by Wolf-Michael Storz.

Rigoletto – Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (June 16-18)

This classic performance from 1991 stars Vincenzo La Scola, Leo Nucci in his signature role, and June Anderson in one of her major interpretations. Those seeking out a classical performance with some fine vocal renditions will find a lot to like here.

La Forza del DestinoMetropolitan Opera (June 18 & 19)

This classic recording features a stunning production by Giancarlo del Monaco with superstar Leontyne Price headlining the cast. She is flanked by a solid group of artists that includes Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti.

As far as video productions go, this is undeniably one of the best ever released for “La Forza del Destino,” mainly due to the unmatched vocal prowess of the artists.

Werther – New National Theatre Tokyo (Starting June 19)

Massenet’s masterpiece stars Saimir Pirgu in the title role alongside an all-Japanese cast that includes Mihoko Fujimura, Hiroshi Kuroda, Hiroko Kouda, and Takayuki Ito, among others.

The Tokyo-based company is one of the most fascinating up-and-coming organizations in the international opera scene and it is definitely fascinating to watch the kind of artists, works, and productions it is championing.

Pelléas et Mélisande – Opernhaus Zürich (June 19-21)

Debussy’s masterpiece is always fascinating to check out. The cast here is headlined by Kyle Ketelson as Golaud who was the standout of a recent Met Opera production during the 2018-19 season. Alain Altinoglu, renowned for the romantic sweep of his interpretations, leads a cast that also includes Corinne Winters and Brindley Sherratt in the title roles. Dmitri Tcherniakov, one of the most iconoclastic directors working today, interprets the work in this production.

Juan Diego Florez Recital – Vienna State Opera (June 20)

The Vienna State Opera is presenting a slew of fascinating programs throughout the week, including several live recitals. But no showcase has us more intrigued than Juan Diego Florez’s recital on June 20. The tenor will be joined by Cécile Restier in what is undeniably set to be a fascinating program.

Live from Covent Garden Royal Opera House (June 20)

If you want to watch the first concert of this series, the ROH is leaving it online for audiences to check out. But this upcoming edition on Saturday should be a blast. It will feature David Butt Philips and Sarah Connolly in Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” as well as music from Gluck’s “Orphée et Eurydice.”

Peter Grimes – Princeton Festival (June 21)

The Princeton Festival has been ramping up its online content over the last few weeks and its latest offering will be a 2016 production of Britten’s masterpiece. For those seeking out more 20th-century music, this is the way to go.

Gala from June 21, 2016- Paris Opera (June 21)

The Paris Opera will take listeners back a few years to experience a concert headlined by such superstars as Sondra Radvanovsky, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Anita Rachvelishvili in music by Bizet, Verdi, and Puccini.

Summer Gala – OperaVision + Several Other Opera Companies (June 21)

One of the most exciting performances of the week has to be the Summer Gala from OperaVision. The online platform is joining forces with such opera companies as the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Komische Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne, Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra Comique Paris, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, and Polish National Opera Warsaw to bring performances from such opera stars as Eva-Maria Westbroek, Thomas Oliemans, Danielle de Niese, Allan Clayton, Roberto Frontali, Cyrille Dubois, Alma Sadé, Damián del Castillo, Gerardo López, Ruth Iniesta, Jodie Devos, Rosa Fealo, Nina Stemme, and Andrzej Filonczyk.

It should be a great experience.

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