The Washington Concert Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring two operatic performances, which are set to be performed at Lisner Auditorium. The season opens with Thomas’ rarely performed work “Hamlet” featuring acclaimed soprano Lisette Oropesa, Jacques Imbrailo, Eve Gigliotti, and Jonas Hacker. Performance Date: Nov. 24, 2019. The second opera of the season is set to be Verdi’s “Simon {…}
In 2012, Ailyn Perez was regarded as one of the “next wave” of prominent leading sopranos when she was profiled in OPERA NEWS magazine. She was a relative unknown, despite having already obtained a number of high profile assignments in some of the most prominent festivals and companies in the world. It was her first time on the cover story {…}
The Handel and Haydn Society will collaborate with Castle of Our Skins to present a free community concert, “Nigra Sum Sed Formosa: I Am Black But Beautiful.” According to the press release, the performance, directed by Reginald L. Mobley, Ashleigh Gordon, and Dr. Jennifer Kane, “will celebrate the breadth and depth of black artistry with powerful music from black composers across {…}
The Ada Sari International Vocal Artistry 20th Festival and 18th Competition, the oldest vocal competition in Poland, is set to take place on April 27 through May 5, 2019. This year, the competition expects to have 81 young singers from 14 countries. The first event of the festival feature a concert performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Suor Angelica” and Ludomir {…}
The PHAME Academy, an organization which empowers adults with development disabilities to lead creative lives, and the Portland Opera have announced that it will put on a collaborative rock opera this August at the Hampton Opera Center. The opera focuses on a young writer who creates a number of poems that take on a life of their own. The two {…}
(Photo: Brescia/Amisano – Teatro alla Scala) Defeated by the Tsar, the Old Believers gather together, for a final act of defiance as they prepare for their mass suicide. Led by the monk, Dosifey, they crowd the stage and invoke the name of the Lord, in preparation for their deaths. The Moon, slowly moving towards the Earth, explodes into flames and {…}
The Theater an der Wien has announced its 2019-20 season featuring numerous rarely performed works, concert operas and a number of new productions. Opera Productions David Afkham conducts Amélie Niermeyer’s new production of Dvorak’s “Rusalka.” Maria Bengtsson sings the title role alongside Ladislav Elgr, Günther Groissböck, Natascha Petrinsky, and Kate Aldrich. Performance Dates: Sept. 19 – 30, 2019 Stefan Gottfried conducts Sam Brown’s production of Mozart’s {…}
The LA Opera has announced that James Mulally and Vina Spiehler have been elected to the LA Opera board of directors. Mulally has been a major supporter of arts organizations in the LA area and is a fixed-income portfolio manager at Capital Group. Spiehler serves on the boards of the Long Beach Opera and Baroque Music Festival Corona Del Mar. {…}
The Zurich Opera has announced its 2019-20 season which will feature a whopping 11 opera premieres and 17 opera revivals. Premieres “The Makropulos Case” will be the first offering of the season with Evelyn Herlitzius starring as Emilia Marty. Other cast members will include Sam Furness, Kevin Conners, Deniz Uzun, Scott Hendricks, and Spencer Lang, among others. Dmitri Tcherniakov will direct while {…}
Diana Damrau has canceled all performances of Gounod’s “Faust.” The Royal Opera House has announced that due to a slipped disc Damrau has had to withdraw from singing the role of Marguerite on April 11, 15, 18, 25, and 30. As a result, Russian soprano Irina Lungu, who is scheduled to sing Marguerite on May 3 and 6 May, will takeover all performances. Lungu made {…}
Herbert Von Karajan was one of the great conductors of all time. Born on April 5, 1908, he was a child prodigy at the piano and between ages 8-18, he studied at the Mozarteum. After graduation, he continued his studies a the Vienna Academy. He made his conducting debut at the Salzburg Festival in 1933, the same year he became {…}