Premiering on April 25, 1926, Puccini’s final opera “Turandot” has always suffered a controversial legacy. The opera is a fixed repertory staple best-known for one particular piece of music. And yet, it would be hard to claim it the composer’s greatest work overall, as he died before its completion. Puccini famously struggled with writing its ending and upon his passing {…}
Soprano Nadine Sierra has been named the winner of the 13th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The prize, which is a $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is given to extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. {…}
Opera Vlaanderen and Ballet has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring a number of rarely performed works and repertoire staples. There will also be a world premiere and a number of concerts. For this season announcement, we have only focused on the vocal events. Productions Wagner’s “Lohengrin” opens the season with Zoran Todorovich in the title role. David Alden directs the production {…}
Oper Frankfurt has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring 14 new productions, a number of revivals and recitals. The season will feature a number of Frankfurt premieres and one world premiere. Here is a look at what to expect. New Productions Peter Eötvös ‘s “Tri sestry” gets its first Frankfurt performances in a new production by Dorothea Kirschbaum. The unique opera, {…}
The remote Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern might seem a strange place for a Music Festival, but for 25 years the island of Usedom has been hosting artists of international repute. Skeptical foreign visitors expecting bleak windswept dunes with a few forlorn fishermen’s shanties shrouded in eau de poisson will be in for a big surprise. Usedom’s popularity reached its apogee during {…}
Lago di Como is said to be the most beautiful place in Italy, which is a very big call indeed. Since Pliny the Younger, Lake Como has attracted discerning aristocrats, poets, politicians and potentates, artists and arrivistes, cultivated voyageurs and celebrity votaries. Stendhal and Mark Twain, George IV’s unwelcome wife Queen Caroline, Sir Winston Churchill, Gianni Versace, numerous Rockefellers, Richard {…}
After a delightful performance of Isouard’s “Cendrillon” during their fall 2017 season, Manhattan School of Music (MSM) showcased another version of the beloved story of Cinderella this weekend, with Rossini’s “La Cenerentola. ” While still celebrating the success of “The Barber of Seville” and not yet 25-years-old, Gioacchino Rossini met Jacopo Ferretti and together they decided to create “La Cenerentola, Ossia La {…}
Is there a better way to spend an opera festival in Nebraska than to see an opera set in Nebraska? My weekend at the inaugural ONE Festival presented by Opera Omaha was highlighted by seeing the brand-new “Proving Up” by the dynamic duo of Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek on two occasions. The opera is based on the short {…}
The Opera Royal del Wallonie-Liege has announced its 2018-19 season featuring five new productions and nine showcases in total. The season contains a number of rarely performed works in addition to repertoire staples featuring many prominent and rising stars. Here is a look. Productions Stefano Vizioli directs Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” with Fabio Sartori in the title role and Violetta Urmana as {…}
UPDATE: Per our sources, the speculated production is just a rumor and it is the wrong information. Following is the article in its original form. Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann are set to perform Puccini’s “Turandot” at the Salzburg Festival in 2021. According to Platea Magazine and Forum Opera, the two superstars will star in a new production of Puccini’s final opera {…}
Who were the Vikings? The word itself certainly produces an impact on everyone, and yet, how well do we really know them? How much of our understanding of their existence is the result of legends that have been perpetuated through a wide range of media and literature? These questions were at the core of composer and librettist Jeffrey Leiser when {…}
