La Monnaie de Mont is set to launch free streaming on March 21, 2020. The company will begin the series with Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” from last June. That will be followed by Mark Grey’s “Frankenstein” starring Scott Hendricks. Verdi’s “Aida” and “Macbeth” follow with Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” after with Bryan Register and Ann Petersen. Ponchielli’s “La {…}
(Credit: Jiyang Chen/Javier del Real/ Simon Pauly) The Festspielhaus Baden Baden has announced its 2020-21 season. For this article we will only highlight vocal performances. The season opens with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and “Bluebeard’s Castle.” Rinat Shaham and Gerald Finley star in the later with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Performance Date: Sept. 20, 2020 Benjamin {…}
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, has announced that it will launch a program of free online content that people can watch from their homes throughout the shutdown due to coronavirus. The program, which will include opera and ballet, will be featured for free via the company’s Facebook and YouTube channels. First up is The Royal Ballet’s performance of “Peter {…}
(Credit: English Touring Company / Owen White Management) Welsh soprano Jennifer Rhys-Davies has passed away on the weekend of March 7, 2020, as confirmed by her daughter. While the exact cause of death is unknown, for the last several months, Rhys-Davies had battled an unspecified illness. Born in Wales, Rhys-Davies studied at Trinity College of Music with the late Audrey {…}
Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak’s second solo album for Decca, a compilation of romantic French arias, provides an insightful interpretation of French style, dazzling high notes ,and impressive piannismi and diminuedo phrasing. The album presents, with the exception of the less popular Bizet’s aria “À la voix d’un amant fidele,” a selection of the most renowned lyrical and romantic French arias. {…}
Fort Worth Opera and the McCammon Voice Competition have announced the 29 artists who made it into the semi-finals of their biennial competition. The semifinalists SeokJong Baek, Rachel Blaustein, Leah Brzyski, Teresa Castillo, Wonjin Choi, Taylor Comstock, Joshua Conyers, Sylvia D’Eramo, Jesse Donner, Dylan Elza, Jessica Faselt, Rudolph Giron, Elana Gleason, LaMarcus Miller, Megan Moore, Tshilidzi Ndou, Alexandra Nowakowski, Ndumiso {…}
On Site Opera has announced that it will be hosting a series of livestreams over the coming weeks, featuring past performances of the company. The organization will also be streaming town hall-style discussion for audiences to discuss the challenges in the performing arts during the current epidemic. Works to be streamed include John Musto and Eric Einhorn’s “Rhoda and the {…}
***This article will be updated as companies announce cancellations*** Major opera houses in the United Kingdom have canceled performances due to the coronavirus outbreak. The English National Opera announced that it was canceling all performances but honor all contracts. Meanwhile the Scottish Opera stated, “In line with advice from the Scottish Government and the announcement from Capital Theatres earlier today {…}
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, artists are taking to the internet to fill the void left by the lack of performances. Soprano Angel Blue is the latest to come up with a means of communicate with fans and other artists around the world during these challenging times. On Friday, March 20, 2020, Blue is set to launch a {…}
(Credit: Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera) The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will be canceling the remainder of the 2019-20 season in an effort to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Productions that are affected by this decision include “Maria Stuarda,” “Simon Boccanegra,” “Tosca,” “La Cenerentola,” “Katya Kabanova,” “Manon Lescaut,” “La Bohème,” “Werther,” and “Madama Butterfly.” The company noted that full-time {…}
The Teatro Regio di Parma is launching a Verdi streaming festival. The company announced that in collaboration with Unitel and Dynamic, it will present 11 operas from the acclaimed Verdi Festival from the past 15 years with Italian subtitles. It all begins with “La Traviata” starring Svetla Vassileva on March 20 and 21, followed by “Nabucco” with Leo Nucci on March {…}