On Feb. 22, Mezzo-soprano Josephine Veasey died at the age of 91. Born in Peckham in South London, Veasey studied with Audrey Langford and became a member of the Royal Opera House chorus in 1949. In 1955 she made her debut as a soloist at the British house in “Salome” and would eventually sing Cherubino in “Le nozze di Figaro,” {…}
The Academy of Vocal Arts has announced its annual “Jubilate! A Concert of Sacred Music,” which will take place on March 19 and 20, 2022. The performance will feature sacred music by Händel, Mozart, Rossini, and Puccini as performed by the Academy of Vocal Arts’ Resident Artists under Master Vocal Coach David Antony Lofton; Lofton will lead the AVA Opera {…}
The Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci has unveiled its 2022 season, which is set to run between June 10-26, 2022. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be solely on vocal and operatic works. Soprano Deborah Cachet will headline “Departing for Kythera” with Les Arts Florissants under Paul Agnew. The program will feature music by Blow, Locke, Lully, Händel, Rameau, {…}
On Feb.1, Julien Benichou began his role as Washington Opera Society’s (WOS) general and artistic director. Benichou is a highly sought-after guest conductor throughout the U.S. and internationally. Benichou currently also serves as music director for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Southern Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has also led such organizations as New {…}
The Royal Opera House has announced a unique program to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 on March 8, 2022 The company will present seven mini-operas throughout St. Pancras International Station including Georgia Barnes and Olivia Bell’s “Everything you carry;” Rose Hall and Katie Colombus’ “It’s The Little Things;” “Laura Reid and Oge Nwosu’s “Detritus;” Sarah Lianne Lewis and Sophia Chapadjiev’s “The Parting Place;” Joanna Taylor and Kerry Priest’s “I just wanna be;” Anna Braithwaite and Kerry Priest’s “The Hardest {…}
Opera Naples has announced the II Festival Under the Star with Artistic Director Ramón Tebar conducting the Naples Festival Orchestra. The festival will take place from March 11 to 20 with performances at Cambier Park and the Wang Opera Center. The season will open with Opera Star Concert with Joseph Calleja. Due to popular demand, Opera Naples is bringing back {…}
The Bard Summerscape has announced its 2022 season dedicated to Rachmanioff. Here is a look at the opera and the concert series it will present. The festival is set to present Richard Strauss’s “Die Schweigsame Frau” in a fast-paced new production by Christian Räth. The opera will star Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli, tenor David Portillo, soprano Jana McIntyre, and baritone {…}
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has announced two exciting world premieres slated for the 2023 and 2024 Festival Seasons. During the 2023 season, the company will present a new adaptation of Scott Joplin’s opera “Treemonisha.” The work is reimagined for the modern era by composer Damien Sneed and librettist Karen Chilton. “Working with OTSL is always a pleasure because they {…}
The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced several cast changes to various productions. The company noted that for “La Traviata” performances on March 4, 6, and 20, Collin Schöning will take over the part of Giuseppe for Simon Yang. Meanwhile, in all performances of “Turandot,” Simon Yang takes over the role of Pong for Oleksiy Palchykov, while in all the performances of {…}
The Ópera de La Palmas has announced a cast change for its production of “Manon Lescaut.” The company noted that Martina Serafin will take over the title role replacing María José Siri, who has contracted tracheitis. Serafin recently sang the title role of “Tosca” at the Teatro Mayor de Bogota and the title role of “Cecilia” at the Teatro Cagliari. Later {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced a cast change for the Feb. 22, 2022 performance of “Anna Bolena.” For the second time in this run, Nicholas Brownlee will join the famed opera, taking on the role of Enrico VIII. He joins a cast starring Diana Damrau in the title role with Ekaterina Semenchuk as Giovanna Seymour and Pene Pati as {…}