The Opéra de Montréal will open its 38th season with Puccini’s “Tosca.” The first performance takes place on Sept. 16, with subsequent shows on the 19th, 21st, and 23rd, all at 7:30 p.m. All showcases will appear at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at the Place des Arts. The opera will be presented in a co-production with the Cincinnati Opera under the {…}
Ruth Ann Swenson was an American darling during the 80s and 90s and the early 2000s. Her coloratura soprano was renown for its bright color, flexibility, and gleaming high notes. And she was also known for numerous roles from the standard repertoire and other rarer gems she explored throughout her career. To celebrate her birth on August 25, 1959, Operawire takes {…}
It’s that time of the year when companies begin to rehearse for opening night and as a result, rather than put the focus on individual singers, this week we will see what companies are sharing about their preparations. Opera Philadelphia Opera Philadephia’s festival opens in two weeks and rehearsals have clearly begun. This week the company posted a picture of {…}
The summer opera season is starting to wind down and, as you might expect, that means there aren’t a whole lot of offerings for those wanting opera on their weekend. The big fish still in the ocean is Sante Fe Opera’s “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” which gets its final performance of its first-ever run on Friday night. Santa Fe Opera {…}
This weekend the Salzburg Festival, the Arena di Verona, and the Edinburgh Festival see their respective seasons come to an end. But before they end, there are still must see performances. Argentina At the Teatro Colón, Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of The City of Mahagonny” gets its second and third performances with Iris Vermillion and Alejandra Malvino alternating the role of Leokadja. Austria The {…}
Pierre Vernes, the founder of the Paris Opera Competition has passed away. Verne created the competition back in 2010, which has turned into a biannual showcase with over hundreds of submissions and a final gala event that decides the winner. At the start of the competition’s history, concerts were used every other year in place of a formal competition. Vernes, {…}
This autumn, British Broadcasting Corporation will focus much of its TV, radio, and online programming on celebrating opera. With the opening of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new exhibition in partnership with the Royal Opera House, titled “Opera: Passion, Power & Politics,” on September 30th, the timing couldn’t be better. According to Jonty Claypole, Director of BBC Arts: “For over {…}
Last year the Bayerische Staatsoper opened a new production of Donizetti’s beloved French work “La Favorite.” It was specifically created for Elīna Garanča, who was making her staged role debut after having impressed in the work in a concert performance at the Salzburg Festival alongside Juan Diego Flórez. This time around the company brought along two of her frequent collaborators, Mariusz Kwiecien {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced the addition of two concerts to its 2017 Fall Season. On Thursday, Nov. 30, the San Francisco Opera Chorus will be featured in an all-choral program at the Taube Atrium Theater in the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. Under the baton of Chorus Director Ian Robertson and Associate Chorus Master and pianist Fabrizio Corona, the {…}
Anna Netrebko has confirmed the Metropolitan Opera’s 2020-21 production of “Aida.” According to Platea Magazine, Netrebko will open a new production that will be conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The soprano also confirmed it on Instagram. But there will be a twist. According to the Spanish Magazine, Netrebko will sing a new production. She is also scheduled to take on Sonja Frisell’s {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Francis Ford Coppola’s {…}