Portland Opera will host a special community recital featuring tenor Thomas Cilluffo alongside Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor Nicholas Fox on the piano. Cilluffo is a second-year resident artist with the company. He made his Portland Opera mainstage debut as a soloist in the 2018 Big Night Concert, and performed the role of Borsa in “Rigoletto.” He has also appeared {…}
The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm announced the company’s 2019-20 season which will include a German rarity, the company premiere of a Leonard Bernstein operetta and the return of a Wagner opera. As usual, the company invites an impressive group of conductors that will comprise Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Alan Gilbert, Constantin Trinks, John Fiore, and Domingo Hindoyan. Here is the lineup: {…}
Chris Grymes’ Open G Performance Series will present “Jeremy Gill, Composer Portrait” at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust on Apr. 7, 2019. The concert will celebrate the bicentennial of the great American poet Walt Whitman with music inspired by his words. “Whitman Portrait” (2014) will feature sopranos Deborah Lifton and Kristin Sampson, mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway, tenor Dominic Armstrong, baritone Jorell Williams, bass-baritone {…}
Wagner’s “Die Walküre” took center-stage at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, March 25, 2019 to what is likely to have been the most enthusiastic audience of the season. After every act, the artists were showered with tremendous ovations, each more effusive than the last. It was emblematic of an evening that just seemed to grow in stature as the night {…}
Pittsburgh Opera will introduce a new functionality in the company’s mobile app during upcoming performances of Puccini’s “La Bohème” on Mar. 30 – Apr. 7, 2019 at the Benedum Center. The free mobile app, powered by InstantEncore, was launched back in 2016 in order to “provide patrons with easy access to information about the company’s productions, artists, and events,” according {…}
The Ópera de Tenerife has announced its 2019-20 featuring six operas, many rising stars, and one legendary artist. Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” opens the season with Maria Rita Combattelli and Beatriz de Sousa sharing the role of Adina and Klodjan Kaҫani, and César Arrieta alternating as Nemorino. Alberto Bonifazio and Jacobo Ochoa Piedrahita alternate as Belcore, while Givi Gigineishvili and Matteo Andrea Mollica are Dulcamara. Antonio {…}
The Michigan Opera Theatre has announced its 2019-20 season featuring musicals, galas, and special concerts. Here is a look at what the Detroit company has to offer. The season opens with a gala featuring star tenor Michael Fabiano and Soprano Leah Crocetto in arias from opera and musical theater. Stephen Lord conducts the starry evening. Performance Date: Oct. 12, 2019 {…}
Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt made headlines last fall when he replaced Roberto Alagna in the third act of “Samson et Dalila” at the Metropolitan Opera. It was his Metropolitan Opera debut and it came months before he was officially supposed to take the stage of the legendary house. Now he is ready for his official debut where he will perform {…}
There was a major success at Teatro Real with the presentation of Cavalli’s ”La Calisto” in its Madrid premiere. It is always a pleasure to discover a new opera, and with the baroque renaissance we are experiencing in recent decades, it wouldn’t surprise me if “La Calisto” became a regular in the repertoire. “La Calisto” is a mythological tale where {…}
Tenor Sergei Balashov has died at the age of 47. The news was announced by Moscow’s Stanislavsky Opera where he was a lead tenor. However, no cause of death was given. A graduate of the Russian Academy of Theatre Art in 1999, Balashov studied with R. Nemchinskaya and Y. Udalov. He went on to make his debut at the Stanislavsky {…}
Pittsburgh Opera has announced that Dena and Martin LaMar have joined its Board of Directors. Dena LaMar, an alumnus of North Carolina A&T State University and University of Northern Virginia, is the Regional Vice President for the Great Lakes Regions at Advance Auto Parts Inc. She serves on the Boards of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, and {…}