PBS will showcase Puccini’s “La Bohème” from the Metropolitan Opera as part of its Great Performances Series on Sunday, May 20, 2018. The broadcast will kick off at 12 p.m. EDT and will showcase soprano Sonya Yoncheva as the tragic Mimì. This was the second of Yoncheva’s big season, during which she appeared on three Live in HD broadcasts. Her {…}
At a matinee performance in the Warner Grand Theater, San Pedro, California, on May 13, 2018, Long Beach Opera (LBO) presented Swiss composer Frank Martin’s secular oratorio “The Love Potion (“Le Vin Herbé”)” as an opera. Based on Joseph Bédier’s early twentieth century “Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut,” the musical work was first performed in Zurich in 1942. Although {…}
Nadine Sierra is enjoying one of the most spectacular careers in the opera world. On this day, May 14, 2018, she turns 30, already having managed a historic career by modern standards. So in celebration of the big 3-0 we look at 30 fun facts on Sierra. 1. She is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 2. Sierra trained at {…}
Soprano Daniela Dessì, born on May 14, 1957, enjoyed a tremendous career that was unfortunately cut short by an untimely death in 2016. Dessì studied at the Conservatory of Parma and Accademia Chigiana of Siena. She made her operatic debut in 1979 at the Teatro dell’Opera Giacosa in the opera “La Serva Padrona. From there, her career took off with {…}
For many, King Arthur is Britain. Deep in the history and literature, he stands as an icon of Britain’s essence – heroic, brave, mighty, magnanimous – the pinnacle of the good, even if flawed as even the noblest are. Henry Purcell’s opera, a.k.a. semi-opera, “King Arthur,” set to English poet John Dryden’s libretto, incorporates some of these characteristics while it {…}
Erin Morley will not sing two productions this summers. The coloratura soprano announced, via Instagram, that due to pregnancy she would not be singing “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Glyndebourne Festival and “Ariadne Auf Naxos” at the Santa Fe Opera. As a result, Liv Redpath will takeover at Santa Fe as Zerbinetta and Elizabeth Sutphen and Louise Alder will alternate Sophie {…}
Madrid’s Teatro Real is set to present the first-ever performances of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s “Die Soldaten” in Spain. The occasion will see Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, the theater’s Principal Guest Conductor, in the pit with a distinguished cast and Calixto Bieto directing. Zimmermann’s only opera is one of the most challenging and extraordinary pieces in the 20th-century and when Oper {…}
Mozart’s operas feature some of the most nuanced, human-like characters in all of the operatic repertory. And if his characters were real humans living and breathing today, in the year 2018, chances are they’d have a smartphone attached to the palm of their hand, filled with apps that they’d use to navigate the twenty-first-century world around them. From Snapchat to {…}
Before the Met showcases Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna in “Samson et Dalila” this fall, audiences around the world will get to hear the duo live from the Vienna State Opera as part of its live stream series as the showcase on Friday, May 18, 2018, will be presented globally online. The production will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and {…}
The Portland Opera has announced that it will be showcasing the West Coast premiere of John Frame and Kevin Newbury’s “Faust” production. The showcase appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago earlier this season, with OperaWire’s Santosh Venkataraman noting “Frame’s unique concepts combine with glorious singing.” “This is one of the most unique and exciting projects I’ve ever worked on,” {…}
The Long Beach Opera has announced its 2018-19 season, which is also the company’s 40th anniversary season and the 20th of Artistic and General Director Andreas Mitisek. The season kicks off with “Three Tales by Beryl Korot & Steve Reich” on Nov. 3, 2018. The documentary video opera emphasizes three events of the 20th century – the Hindenburg explosion, the {…}