Two of America’s greatest singers, James Morris and Sherrill Milnes also share a birthday on Jan. 10. So to celebrate the birth of these two opera legends, here is a quiz with a simple concept – we make a statement and you have to pick which of these two artists it applies to. As always, enjoy!
Stephanie Blythe is set to present her concert “Blythely Ever After” as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series The performance is a musical journey through the life of the tender, testosterone-filled tenor of the century, Blythely Oratonio. Known as the outrageous alter ego of renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, Oratonio takes you on a journey through his art and life {…}
The Florida Grand Opera is set to start the 2020 year with a revival production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Ramón Tebar leads the production with a cast that includes Sandra Lopez, who received critical acclaim touring with Andrea Bocelli, in the title role and Grammy Award-winner Joshua Guerrero in the role of Pinkerton. They will be joined by Stephany Peña {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 2020-21 season with a focus on French culture, history, and operas. The season will include a number of new productions including R. Strauss’ “Salome,” the world premiere of Monteverdi and Máté Bella’s new take on “L’incoronazione di Poppea,” the world premiere of Vajda’s “Le Malade Imaginaire,” Philip Glass’ “Les Enfants Terribles,” Beethoven’s “Fidelio” and “König {…}
(Credit: Jason Homa) The Opéra National de Paris has canceled this evening’s performance of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at the Opéra Bastille due to the national strike notice, according to the company’s official website. The cast for “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” includes Xabier Anduaga, Lisette Oropesa, Carlo Lepore, and Florian Sempey and Ilya Kutyukhin alternating in the role of {…}
(Source: Official Website) The Greek National Opera has announced its first annual report following the four-year, 20 million euro grant it received from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to support the organization’s outreach strategy. Per the report, the grant has enabled the GNO to collaborate with a number of international artists, including the entire creative cast behind “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk;” {…}
Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” is set to return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Lyric’s principal conductor Sir Andrew Davis returns to the work that inaugurated his first season as Lyric’s music director in 2000, leading Richard Jones’ acclaimed production. The opera is set to star Brandon Jovanovich as Gherman and Sondra Radvanovsky in her role debut as Lisa. {…}
Young Thomas Conlin was very exciting about his first contact with the classical music. His parents bought a piano for him, and he wasn’t able to resist the temptation. “When I was five-years-old my father won a piano in a contest,” Conlin reminisced in a recent interview with OperaWire. “From the day the piano was delivered I couldn’t keep my {…}
Mozart Week 2020 will be taking place in Salzburg, from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The festival will showcase several important works by the famed composer with “Der Messias” coming into spotlight. Robert Wilson will stage the “Messiah,” one of the four Händel oratorios which Mozart subtly reworked. The great composer translated the text into German, re-ordered the work, {…}
The DiMenna Center is set to feature the Sparks & Wiry Cries Second Annual songSLAM Festival, dedicated to art song on Jan. 17-18, 2020. The festival kicks off with the fourth annual NYC songSLAM on Jan. 17. This event is a unique competition for emerging composer and performer teams to premiere to art song. Composer Tom Cipullo will host the {…}
(Credit :Joel Jöggu Schweizer/ Prague State Opera) This weekend is all about classic operas from Verdi, Donizetti, and Puccini. Many rising stars are performing this weekend so what better way to start the New Year than to focus on them. Il Trovatore – Landstheater Linz, Austria Federico Longhi leads Verdi’s popular work in his role debut as the Count de {…}