Giuliana Castellani has died at the age of 40. The mezzo-soprano died on Monday, Oct. 28 in a car accident alongside her dog while in Austria for an audition. Per reports, Castellani died instantly upon the crash. Castellani, born in 1979 in Locarno, studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Como and went on to garnered international recognition when she {…}
(Credit: LA Opera) This week the Metropolitan Opera will present the New York premiere of Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten,” the third Glass opera in the company’s repertoire. Among those appearing in the hotly anticipated Met premiere is rising mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. Bridges has become one of the most important exponents of contemporary music, being featured in prominent productions of “Satyagraha” and {…}
(Credit: Richard Hubert Smith / ENO) When it opens this Friday, “Akhnaten” will be but the third Philip Glass opera to ever open at the Metropolitan Opera. In sum there will be eight performances of the opera, bringing the total of Glass opera performances at the famed house to 34. The first opera by the Academy Award nominated composer to {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) OperaVision will showcase Rossini’s “Ermione” live from the Teatro di San Carlo on Nov. 9, 2019. The production will star soprano Angela Meade in the lead role with Teresa Iervolino, John Irvin, Antonino Siragusa, Filippo Adami, Guido Loconsolo, Gaia Petrone, Chiara Tirotta, and Christiano Oliveri among the major cast members. Alessandro De Marchi will conduct a production {…}
The Macerata Opera Festival has announced its 2020 program. This season the festival will showcase three popular operas with renown casts starting on July 17 through August 9, 2020. The festival opens with Puccini’s “Tosca” conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta and directed by Valentina Carrasco. The production will star Rebeka Lokar in the title role, Piero Pretti as Cavaradossi, and Roberto {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” may not be an opera you would usually associate with Wexford. Judged a success at its premier in Monte Carlo in 1910, in which Chaliapin featured in the title role, it has since struggled to establish itself as part of the mainstream repertoire. It can, therefore, hardly be deemed a forgotten or rarely performed {…}
(Credit: Wilfried Hosl) Anja Harteros received the “Meistersinger-Medaille” at the Bayerische Staatsoper following the performance on Nov. 3, 2019; the award was donated by the Freunde des Nationaltheaters e.V. The soprano is celebrating her 20th stage anniversary at Bayerische Staatsoper and the prize honors her outstanding work for the Munich opera house. Harteros has performed a number of roles at {…}
There were high expectations surrounding the return of superstar Anna Netrebko to the Teatro Real were she had participated in Prokófiev’s “War and Peace” in 2001. The result was a mixture of excitement and disappointment: Firstly, there was the usual imposition of her husband Yusif Eyvazov in the program, a good singer who does not reach the quality and artistic {…}
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonia has announced that Leonardo Capalbo will sing the role of the tenor soloist in Verdi’s “Requiem” later this month. The tenor recently made his Perm Opera debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Bohème” under the baton of Teodor Currentzis, who will lead the MusicAeterna Orchestra during the upcoming concert. The tenor recently completed a run of {…}
(Credit: Matthew Staver) Baritone Malcolm MacKenzie loves playing the bad guys. On his website he notes that Scarpia, the villainous police chief who sexually harasses Tosca before being murdered, is his favorite role. Another of his favorites is the conniving Iago and he was even the first man to take on the role of the vengeful Roger Chillingworth in the {…}
(Credit: Janine Guldener) The Berlin-based mezzo-soprano Bettina Ranch dreamed about a career as a singer since childhood. And while she started off her musical path as a violinist, she eventually made the switch, which has led her to a major vocal career greater than even her dreams could handle. She has been an ensemble member of the Aalto Musiktheater Essen {…}