The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2019-20 season with five new productions, a New Year’s Eve gala, and a recital. Here is a look at what to expect. New Productions The season opens with Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” in a new production by James Robinson. The production stars Eric Owens and Kevin Short sharing the title role of Porgy and {…}
The Semperoper Dresden has announced its slate for 2019-20, which will include seven new productions to go along with 23 revivals. New Productions Rossini’s “Il Viaggio a Reims” is directed by Laura Scozzi with a cast that includes Elena Gorshunova, Maria Kataeva, Tuuli Takala, Iulia Maria Dan, Taylor Stayton, Edgardo Rocha, Georg Zeppenfeld, Maurizio Muraro, Martin-Jan Nijhof, Christoph Pohl, Tilmann {…}
On February 14, 2019, Plácido Domingo visited Vilnius to prepare a performance alongside Ana María Martínez and Violeta Urmana, and conductor Jordi Bernàcer at Žalgiris arena. It is not often that one gets an opportunity to introduce the icon, who needs no introduction. Fortunately, OperaWire was at the press event prior to the performance and had an opportunity to ask {…}
Arguably the biggest New York City opera event of the summer is the New York Opera Festival, which will be entering its fourth iteration this summer. The beauty of the festival is that it features a plethora of major companies coming together to express themselves through opera. This has not changed in 2019, which features performances throughout May and June. {…}
The LA Philharmonic has announced its 2019-20 season featuring numerous world premieres and a number of superstars. Here is a look at what the season has to offer. Please note that we have only announced the vocal performances. Julia Bullock headlines a concert that includes Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” Gershwin’s Concerto in F, the world premiere of Andre Previn’s {…}
The American Vocal Arts 2019 International Collegiate Singing Competition has announced its winners. The competition’s goal is to award the top singers from around the globe we are enrolled or have recently graduated from an undergraduate or graduate program in music. First place went to soprano Carolina López Moreno, show studies at Manahattan Schol of Music. She is also the {…}
There has been a major cast upheaval for the Opéra Royal de Wallonie. Per the original season announcement, the production was set to feature Serena Farnocchia, Nino Surguladze, Marianne Cornetti, Lionel Lhote, and Gianluca Terranova with Speranza Scappucci in the podium. Lhote, Surguladze, Cornetti, and Scappucci remain scheduled, but there has been a plethora of changes across the board. The title role {…}
The Minnesota Opera has announced its 2019-20 season with five main stage productions and a number of rising stars. Here is a look at what audiences can expect. Melody Moore and Alexandra Loutsion headline a production of Strauss’ “Elektra” with Brian Straufenbiel directing. Jill Grove and Mary Stonikas round out the cast with Elias Grady conducting. Performance Dates: Oct. 5-13, {…}
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” was a twinkle of light in dark times. The author, a celebrated pilot and raconteur, wrote it while exiled from France in New York City during the Nazi occupation of his homeland. This helps explain the mood and tone of his book. Though delicate and charmingly illustrated, it is a melancholic meditation on loneliness {…}
Zandonai’s “Francesca da Rimini” isn’t necessarily a staple of the opera canon, but it has had its share of champions over the years, including Magda Olivero, and Renata Scotto, among others. The work had its world premiere on Feb. 19, 1914 and remains the composer’s most famous work. It has gotten key performances at the major theaters around the world, {…}
The title character of Verdi’s “Falstaff” is a notoriously challenging role. Not only is there a certain vocal quality required, but a poor actor can sink the entire opera; Falstaff is what makes his own titular opera work in a way quite similar to the eponymous personage of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Verdi’s final {…}
