Soprano Elena Mosuc has been awarded the “Best Soprano” Award from the International Opera Awards (International Opera Award (Oscar della Lirica) 2019. She will receive her award in Venice on October 1, 2019. The soprano is coming off a major triumph at the Royal Opera Muscat in her first-ever performances of Délibes’ “Lakmé.” “First of all the music is very {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2019 festival featuring some of the great singers, performers and orchestras in the world. For this season announcement we will concentrate on the vocal performances. Omer Meir Wellber leads the BBC Proms Youth Choir and BBC Philharmonic in Haydn’s “The Creation.” He is joined by soloists Sarah-Jane Brandon, Benjamin Hulett, and Christoph Pohl. Performance Date: July 29, {…}
Stage fright. What performer or artist of any kind has not dealt with some form of performance anxiety at some point in his or her career? In fact, they say that if you care about something, there will always be nerves associated. Some people are excellent at channeling these emotions in the right manner – Franco Corelli was said to {…}
China’s Music City Harbin will launch its annual event, the 2nd International Music Competition Harbin, allowing international young musicians to showcase their skills as they attempt to capture some of the top prizes in the industry. This year’s competition will be held in Harbin and will expand to four categories: vocal, piano, violin and composition. The competition will be judged by 29 worldwide renowned {…}
The Salzburg Osterfestspiele has its 2020 festival concentrating on the works of Verdi and Beethoven. This season the festival will present a new production of “Don Carlo” directed by Vera Nemirova. Christian Thielemann will conduct the production, which is set to include a new prologue by Manfred Trojan; this in turn will replace the Act one Fontainebleau scene. The cast will include Yusif {…}
This week will center on one major release in honor of one of the great tenors of the 20th century. Johan Botha: Italian Opera Arias Orfeo and Naxos pay tribute to Johan Botha in a CD set featuring arias and duets from Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” “I Vespri Siciliani,” “Aida” and “Otello” as well as Puccini’s “Turandot” and “Tosca,” Giordano’s “Andrea {…}
On April 12, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera resumed it season’s run of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Occupying a rather unique space as a dramma giocoso, the work unfolds the allegorical message through often-comedic methods. The cast and crew of Friday’s performance strongly favored these comedic elements, much to the delight of the audience. Michael Grandage’s production highlights the universal nature of {…}
On Site Opera has announced that it will launch a mobile app featuring multilingual supertitles for its upcoming performances. Per a press release, the app will also feature digital programs so that audiences can learn more about the cast and production that they are watching. Additionally, there will be other multimedia content. The app, which was developed by InstantEncore, was {…}
Chelsea Opera Group is set to present Anton Rubinstein’s increasingly popular “The Demon’ in a concert performance under the musical direction of Oliver Zeffman. The performance is set to take place on June 30, 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre. The performance will feature baritone Andrei Kymach in the title role with Angela Simkin as The Angel. {…}
New York operagoers are growing increasingly familiar with Napoli-native mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi’s Mozartean repertoire. After her 2014 Met debut as Cherubino in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Malfi returned to the big stage in 2016 as Zerlina in “Don Giovanni,” and as of this writing, she’s back as the country girl taken in by the Don’s deceitful charms. Last year, those {…}
The Merola Opera Program has announced a cast change for its April 24 Schwabacher Recital. Per a press release, soprano Patricia Westley is set to appear in lieu of Mary Evelyn Hangley. Hangley has reportedly withdrawn from the recital for personal reasons. Westley, who is slated to take on the role of Selena in the world premiere of Jake Heggie {…}