(Credit: Tatiana Vlasova) The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) today announced the Awards for 2020 and picked famed Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka as Artist of the Year. Austrian-Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Italian cellist Erica Piccotti was picked as Young Artist of the Year. The Discovery Award was awarded {…}
(Credit: Jiyang Chen) The Opéra National de Paris has canceled the opening night performance of Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” scheduled for January 21 at the Opéra Bastille, according to the official statement on the company’s website. The cancellation came as a result of the strike notice against the French government pension reform and is the latest in a series of {…}
(Credit: Sasha Vasiljev / Mathias Bothor, Deutsche Grammophon) The Festival Aix-en-Provence has just announced the program for 2020 season, which will include a total of six works. The season will open with Berg’s opera “Wozzeck,” starring Christian Gerhaher, Anja Kampe, Daniel Brenna, Peter Hoare, Brindley Sherratt, Evan LeRoy Johnson, J’Nai Bridges, Alexander Kiechle, Tomasz Kumięga, and Graham Clark. Sir Simon {…}
Canadian soprano Tonia Evans Cianciulli has won the Canadian Book Award for her recent “The Heart’s Obsession.” The book, which centers on the musical journey of opera singer Georgina Ann Stirling, also known as Marie Toulinquet and “The Nightingale of the North,” separates fact from fiction by examining the documents and artifacts left after the famed singer’s passing. Stirling was {…}
(Photo Credit: Sunny Martini / Seattle Opera) Seattle Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” has travelled around, being co-owned by regional opera companies in Kansas City, Honolulu, Detroit, Atlanta, and Seattle, with costumes rented from Santa Fe Opera. And while it was musically and emotionally rewarded, the mounting on January 11 was visually staid. Roads Not Taken For Tchaikovsky’s opera {…}
(Credit: Opéra de Paris) The Opéra National de Paris has canceled performances of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and the ballet-opera “L’Après-midi d’un faune”/”L’Enfant et les sortilèges” scheduled for January 20 at the Opéra Bastille and Palais Garnier respectively, according to the official statement on the company’s website. The cancelations came as a result of the strike notice against the French {…}
(Source: Max Emanuel Cencic Official Website) The International Opera Festival Bayreuth Baroque is set to kick off for the first time in its history in 2020. The event, which will take place at the Margravial Opera House, will be led by appointed artistic director countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic, who is contracted for three years and convinced the city of Bayreuth {…}
(Photo credit: Belgrade Philharmonic, bgf.rs) Belgrade Philharmonic issued an official statement regarding the cancellation of conductor Jun Märkl, who has dropped out of his appearances with the organization on January 16 and January 17. Per the statement made by the Belgrade Philharmonic, it “could not execute the agreement because the artist refused to respect certain terms of the contract, which {…}
(Credit: Wiener Staatsoper) After it had announced that conductor Michael Boder would replace Mikko Franck in both presentations of Strauss’ “Salome” on January 20 and January 24, the Wiener Staatsoper formally notified the audiences that Michael Boder had to withdraw from the performance on January 20 due to illness. Dennis Russell Davies will take over the musical direction in his {…}
(Credit: Berliner Philharmoniker/Wilfried Hösl) Celebrated conductor Zubin Mehta will conduct the whole run of Verdi’s opera “Falstaff” at the Berlin Staatsoper unter der Linden, replacing the famed conductor Daniel Barenboim, according to the statement on the company’s website. Mehta will lead an all-star cast that includes Lucio Gallo, Alfredo Daza, Francesco Demuro, Barbara Frittoli, Nadine Sierra, Daniela Barcellona, Jürgen Sacher, {…}
(Credit: ROH / CATHERINE ASHMORE) Sony Classical has announced a new recording of Verdi’s “Otello” starring Jonas Kaufmann in the title role. The new recording is also set to star Carlos Alvarez as Iago and Federica Lombardi as Desdemonda with Antonio Pappano conducting the orchestra and choir Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. The new recording will mark Kaufmann’s first CD {…}