Giacomo Meyerbeer is one of the most influential composers of all time. Such noted composers as Verdi, Wagner, Berlioz, Massenet, Donizetti, Halevy, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Gounod, Thomas, Liszt, and Chopin, among others, came under his spell at one point or another in their respective careers. And yet, Meyerbeer’s works are often neglected in the modern era. Born on Sept. 5, {…}
Medici.TV will livestream the Zaryadye Concert Hall’s Grand Opening gala. The concert will see Valery Gergiev conduct the Mariinsky Theatre and a number of Russian stars including Anna Netrebko and Ildar Abdrazakov, as well as Yusif Eyvazov, Daniil Trifonov, and Denis Matsuev. The concert will include music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky, among others. The new concert hall has a tropical garden on {…}
When you look at Finland’s musical landscape, you will undeniably see a number of talented opera singers. But none rises above the stature of Karita Mattila. Born on Sept. 5, 1960, the Finnish soprano graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 1983, the same year that she won the first Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and cemented her status as {…}
Christman Opera Company has announced its upcoming project, which will be a double bill of operas by composer Theodore Christman and librettist Anna Winslow. The operas, “Metamorphosis” and “Adriana McMannes,” will be presented on Sunday, October 14, 2018 at the Plácido Domingo Hall in The National Opera Center. The former work will be making its world premiere, while the latter {…}
René Pape is one of the supreme basses in all of opera history. Born on Sept. 4, 1964 in Dresden, Pape’s had interest in music from a young age, studying with the Dresdener Kreuzchor. In 1988, he made his debut with the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, where he would go on to have tremendous success thereafter. In the early {…}
The final opera of this year’s Innsbruck’s Festival for Early Music was “La Semele, o sia la richiesta fatale,” written in 1726 by the relatively unknown German composer, Johann Adolf Hasse, to a libretto by Francesco Ricciardi. Technically this is not an opera as such, but a serenata, although it could certainly fall within its ambit. Deriving from the Classical and {…}
What does it take for an opera singer to break out? The question is never simple and there are multiple ways. A competition win could be the defining moment. The same goes for a young artist program. Then there is a last minute cancellation that plunges an artist in the spotlight. For Romanian-American baritone Andrew G. Manea that may be the {…}
Opera Saratoga’s has announced its 2019 season featuring three operas that will be featured at the center of the company’s 2019 Summer Festival. The season, which will run from June 29 through July 14, 2019, is set to present two classics from the standard repertoire and one world premiere. Program The season will open with Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment” in a {…}
OperaVision will showcase Erkel’s “Bánk Bán” live from the Hungarian State Opera on September 7, 2018 starting at 7 p.m. local time. The Hungarian work will star Marcell Bakonyi, Ildikó Komlósi, Péter Balczó, Levente Molnár, Kolos Kováts, Zsolt Haja, Lajos Geiger, Gergely Irlanda, and Zita Szemere. Balázs Kocsár will conduct while Attila Vidnyánszky directs. The production will be available to {…}
The Operalia competition has announced that its 2018 winners. The competition announced that the first prize winners were Belarus tenor Pavel Petrov and Canadian mezzo Emily D’Angelo. The second prize went to Russian tenor Migran Agadzhanyan and American mezzo Samantha Hankey. The third prize winners were given to Russian tenor Arseny Yakovlev and Canadian mezzo Rihab Chaieb. The Zarzuela awards {…}
Musica Viva NY kicks off its 2018-19 season with Songs of Love, an evening of lieder by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and P.D.Q. Bach. The recital on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 will feature soprano Devony Smith, mezzo-soprano Michèle Eaton, tenor Nathan Siler, and baritone Brian Mextorf, accompanied by Artistic Director Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez and Trent Johnson. The concert will also include {…}