On Monday April 13, 2020, France’s president Emmanuel Macron announced that it was extending its lockdown until May 11. The president announced that progress had been made but the battle was not yet over. He added that after the end of the lockdown business would slowly be opening but that no festivals or events drawing large crowds would be allowed {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled week 6 of its streaming service which features an all-star gala and six operas with such stars as Sonya Yoncheva, Anna Netrebko, Nina Stemme, Renée Fleming, Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, and Juan Diego Flórez, among others. Here is a breakdown. Monday, April 20 – Strauss’s Elektra Starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, {…}
Soprano Nicole Car has launched Freelance Artist Relief Fund Australia to help provide financial aid to artists who have been hurt financially by the COVID-19 crisis. The organization was founded in March 2020 and offers grants to Australian classical singers. An amount of $150,000 has already been raised, but the organization has its sights set on over $1 million. All {…}
(Credit: Dasha Dore) Soprano Yvette Keong is one of the 2020 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows and the only musician from among 30 honorees. The fellowship, established by Hungarian Immigrants and American Philanthropists, was created in 1997 to support immigrants and children of immigrants in the U.S. during critical moments of their education. Keong is a student at The Juilliard {…}
The Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Italy has released the first star-studded opera gala from home. The gala, entitled “Gala: Artisti uniti in tempi di isolamento,” aligned a number of international stars including Enea Scala, Nicola Alaimo, Arturo Chacón Cruz, Ruth Iniesta, Roberta Mantegna, and Ian Bostridge, among many others. The performance features music by Bellini, Puccini, Lara, Lehar, Verdi, and {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will be aligning the stars of the opera world for a live stream of an At Home Gala on April 25, 2020 at 1 p.m. EDT. The gala can be viewed via the company’s official website with major artists performing from their homes all around the world. The artists include, but are not {…}
The Bilbao Opera has announced its will begin streaming operas. The new streamer #ABAOenCasa will be launched on the company’s official webpage, www.abao.org, and will showcase complete operas, conferences, and opera for kids. In the Óperas para el recuerdo section the company will showcase concerts and operas from past seasons including Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem,” Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene,” Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” Dvořák “Rusalka,” {…}
It has been announced that Russian composer Dmitri Smirnov has passed away on April 9, 2020, due to the coronavirus. Born on November 2, 1948 in Minsk, Belarus, Smirnov grew up in a family of opera singers, himself going on to study at the Moscow Conservatory from 1967 to 1972. As a composer, Smirnov penned two operas based on texts {…}
The Israeli Opera is streaming operas live on Facebook. The company announced that it will be showcasing performances from past seasons every Saturday at 6 p.m. with Hebrew subtitles; the operas will then remain on the company’s Facebook page for future viewings. To this date the company has already streamed Puccini’s “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly,” and Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas.” {…}
The Royal Swedish Opera is showcasing two major performances on its official website. The first of these that is streaming is Verdi’s “Aida” in a production by Michael Cavanaugh. It stars Katarina Dalayman as Amneris, Christina Nilsson as Aida, Iva Defabiani as Radamès, and Alessio Cacciamani as Ramfis. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts the performance, which is presented in two parts. {…}
We hope you are all doing well and holding up during these challenging times. Another week passes by but that means more opera streaming online. This week’s selections range from the standard repertory to unique new experiences spread across the world. Here are the top 10 operas we think you should check out this week. Madama Butterfly – Royal Swedish {…}