In our selections for this weekend’s top picks, we examine a few classic masterpieces with some solid casting as well as some new operas that are gaining some traction across the continent. Here is a look at our selections, in alphabetical order by company. La Bohème – Dallas Opera On Saturday evening, audiences will get a chance to check out {…}
The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago is set to showcase “Rising Stars in Concert” on April 7, 2019. The event, which will take place at the Lyric Opera House, will feature sopranos Whitney Morrison, Emily Pogorelc, and Ann Toomey; mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Decker; contralto Lauren Decker; tenors Eric Ferring, Josh Lovell, and Mario Rojas; baritones Christopher Kenney and Ricardo José Rivera; bass-baritones Alan {…}
Ojai Youth Opera will present the world premiere of its first original commissioned work “Nightingale & The Tower” this May. Rebecca Comerford, Mikael Jorgensen, and Jason Treuting’s new work is an electric chamber opera for six adult singers, 29 youth OYO members, synthesizers, chamber orchestra, and earth harp. Comerford, OYO Founder and Artistic Director, remarks that the opera’s story, which follows “a young boy’s odyssey {…}
Music of Remembrance is set to showcase composer Tom Cipullo and librettist David Mason’s new chamber opera “The Parting” on May 19, 2019 at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall in Seattle. The performance, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. local time, will feature baritone Michael Mayes alongside mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook and soprano Laura Strickling. Erich Parce will direct {…}
Monteverdi’s “The Return of Ulysses” will be showcased at the Pinchgut Opera on June 13-19, 2019. The production will feature tenor Fernando Guimaraes as the legendary hero. He previously performed in Australia Brandenburg Orchestra’s “Handel: Heaven.” He was nominated for a Grammy in 2015 for his work in “The Return of Ulysses.” The production will also feature mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby {…}
ALL ARTS’s music series “The Set List” is set to showcase Joyce DiDonato’s “Song Play” performance at Lincoln Center as part of the American Songbook series. The stream will premiere on Sunday, March 24, 2019 at 8 p.m. and will run for approximately one and a half hours. Among the pieces performed are “Caro mio ben,’ “The Masquerade is Over,” {…}
I Fagiolini and Robert Hollingworth are set to work alongside director Thomas Guthrie and designer Ruth Paton to showcase Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” at the York Early Music Festival on July 5, 2019 with an additional showcase at LSO St. Luke’s in London on July 7. The production is set to utilize ancient Greek techniques of masks and puppets to tell the {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season, which will include six new productions and dozens of revivals with some of opera’s greatest stars. New Productions The first new production of the season will be Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino.” The production will be directed by Frank Castorf and will star Russell Thomas and Marcelo Alvarez as Don Alvaro. {…}
(© Semperoper Dresden/Matthias Creutziger) Staatskapelle Dresden has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on the vocal performances. The season will open with Symphonic Diversity, split into two programs over three days. On the first two days, Myung When-Chung will conduct Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, featuring Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, as well as {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment will take a look {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced that Christina Scheppelmann will become the company’s fourth General Director starting in August 2019. Per a press release, “In the Seattle area, Scheppelmann becomes the only woman to hold the top artistic leadership position at a large theater or performing arts organization (with an annual budget of more than $10 million). In the opera world, {…}