On August 2nd, Opera Breve brought a fascinating concept to life with their new production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Stripped of its spoken dialogue and most of its music, this shortened version of the opera found most of its substance through the narration of a fictional psychoanalyst, Dr. Eva Stone. The details presented in the narration helped create an atmosphere in {…}
Jonas Kaufmann has announced plans to return to the Metropolitan Opera. During a press conference in Sydney the tenor addressed his cancellation for the upcoming production of “Tosca” and said, “I can assure you that I offered them part of the shows, I wanted to sing there and I didn’t want to disappoint my fans in New York.” He added, {…}
We have a conductor change at the Bayreuth Festival for the “Parsifal” performance on August 5, 2017. Per the company’s official website maestro Harmut Haenchen will be replaced by Marek Janowski due to illness. The performance of Wagner’s final opera will include RyaMcKinny as Amfortas, Karl-Heinz Lehner as Titurel, Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz, Andreas Schager as Parsifal, Derek Welton as {…}
The Salzburg Festival is donating 50,000 Euros to facilitate musical education for Syrian refugee children in Jordan over the next two years. The festival announced that the money being donated to MECI (Middle East Children’s Institute) was the net profit from ticket sales for the dress rehearsal of Verdi’s “Aida” performed on August 3, 2017. The performance starred Anna Netrebko, Francesco Meli, {…}
Jonas Kaufmann has been named ambassador for the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation. In a press statement, José Carreras said, “Jonas Kaufmann is one of the most important singers of our time, and the fact that this highly-valued colleague supports me in our fight against leukemia is very important to me. Kaufmann will join the foundation in a gala concert scheduled for {…}
Festival season continues and many of the greatest artists are preparing new roles or in rehearsals portraying some of their favorite characters. Find out what some of them were up to, Ildar Abdrazakov attended the dress rehearsal of “Aida” at the Salzburg Festival, showing support for his friends and colleagues. He posted two videos from the curtain call and another {…}
Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” is slated to be live streamed on Medici.tv from the Salzburg Festival on August 4. Starring Russell Thomas as Tito Vespasiano, Golda Schultz as Vitellia and Marianne Crebassa as Sesto, the opera will be recorded by ORF/3Sat and UNITEL in collaboration with the Salzburg Festival. The opera will also be broadcast on August 4, 2017, on ORF 2 and later on August {…}
The Festival season continues with one of the most anticipated premieres slated to open. Austria That premiere, of course, is Anna Netrebko’s role debut as Aida at the Salzburg Festival. She will be accompanied by Riccardo Muti and Francesco Meli, who is also making his role debut as Radamès, with Ekaterina Semenchuk as Amneris. The festival will also continue runs {…}
The festival season keeps on rolling along with a number of performances across the states. At the Glimmerglass Festival you can get your helping of bel canto with “The Siege of Calais” or modern opera with “Scalia Ginsburg” on Friday. You can enjoy a musical in the form of “Oklahoma” or Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” on Saturday with an offering {…}
Many of the great opera singers have the luxury of leaving behind essential recordings. But some of them, unfortunately, don’t get that same opportunity, their voices often getting lost in history. This is not necessarily the case for the great Gabriela Tucci, born on August 4, 1929. The versatile singing-actress made a big name for herself singing across some of {…}
Within the last quarter of the 20th century, there was perhaps no dramatic soprano as influential as Deborah Voigt. Born August 4th, 1960, the American soprano is most celebrated for her interpretations by Strauss and Wagner, and other German composers. Though Voigt’s repertoire ranges from bel canto to new American premieres, the “down to earth diva” had most of her {…}