Half way through the second act of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena,” Giovanna Seymour enters the prison cell of Anna Bolena in an attempt to save her from the execution block by getting her to admit that she is guilty of adultery, precipitating a musical and dramatic confrontation between the two rivals for Enrico’s love. It is a confrontation of epic proportions, {…}
Mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar was born on March 3, 1944 and would become “one of the most prominent singers of her generation.” Music became a part of her life early on as her mother was a piano and voice teacher who formed the gospel group “Harmonic Choraliers.” The young mezzo would learn piano and voice and sang solos in church by {…}
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is one of the most iconic novels ever written, its meditation on men’s relationship with technology always appealing to people across generations. Film adaptations of the legendary work have been a major fixture of 20th century popular culture and in recent years, there have been a number of composers who have tried to put their own touches {…}
Javier Camarena has made Met Opera history singing the first solo encore in a Live in HD performance. During the final performance of Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment” at the Metropolitan Opera, Camarena repeated the final part of “A Mes Ami.” In total he sang 18 high Cs in the performance. With this final performance, Camarena encored during all seven {…}
Simon Estes, born on March 2, 1938, is a legendary bass-baritone. Born in Iowa, his father was a coal miner and his grandfather was a former slave. His early musical experiences were at the local Baptist church that his family attended. He entered the University of Iowa and was destined to study psychology and religion but ultimately switched to voice. {…}
For the third year in a row, the gardens of the Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Italy, will be home to a late summer celebration like no other – The New Generation Festival. Its co-founders Maximilian Fane, Roger Granville, and Frankie Parham, describes the festival’s purpose as “to kindle the infinite potential of the human spirit, championing emerging talent across artistic {…}
The Latvian opera director Andrejs Žagars has died after a long illness. Born on Oct. 16, 1958, Žagars began working in theater and then eventually transitioned to film He went on to act in numerous feature films before opening up several cafes in Riga. In 1996, the Latvian entrepreneur was then appointed to the post of director of the Latvian {…}
Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced that Emily Birsan will step in to replace Albina Shagimuratova in today’s performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The company announced that Shagimuratova is suffering from laryngitis and is therefore unable to perform. This marks the third performance that Shagimuratova cancels during the run. Birsan in an alumnus of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced the cast for its 2020-21 opening night production of Verdi’s “Aida.” In a New York Times articles, Peter Gelb announced that Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczala, and Ludovic Tézier will star in the leading roles of “Aida.” The general manager also noted that the new production by Michael Mayer “will be as epic and grand as {…}
Andre Previn has died at the age of 89. The German-American composer, conductor, and pianist was born in Germany and left in 1938 to New York. He eventually naturalized himself in the United States and moved to Los Angeles. In his youth, he studied piano and conducting and began his career in Hollywood arranging and composing Hollywood film scores. In total, {…}
This week two world premieres are set to be released. One comes from a groundbreaking TV opera series and another comes from a lost opera. Check out what we think you should buy this week. Le dernier sorcier One hundred and fifty years after its composition, a lost opera is recovered and a vanished voice restored. Pauline García Viardot’s lost {…}