Nicholas Phan’s new solo album for Avie Records “Illuminations” is set for release Friday, April 20, 2018. The release of the new album comes on the heels of Phan’s 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. “Illuminations” reunites the tenor with his long-time recital partner, pianist Myra Huang and also joins forces with the adventurous Brooklyn-based orchestral collective, {…}
Mariella Devia will be awarded the “Premio Una vita nella musica 2018” this coming May. The soprano will be presented with the accolade on May 14, 2018, at the Sale Apollinee of Teatro La Fenice where she will be performing “Norma.” Devia has announced that after the “Norma” performances she will be retiring from the Opera stage and will dedicate her {…}
Who knows if we will ever hear Renée Fleming take to the opera stage to perform a recognized role again? Her departure from the Met Opera stage last May in “Der Rosenkavalier” seems, to this point, as the end of Fleming the opera star to make way for Fleming, a bigger star in a wider range of musical repertoire. Because {…}
Catherine Malfitano is that rare career where the star soprano also becomes a prominent director. The New York native was born on April 18, 1948, to a violinist and a ballet dancer. In such a circumstance it is no surprise that Malfitano would have some sort of career in the arts. And sure enough, her early upbringing cemented that. She {…}
Hartford Opera Theater will present “Speaking Her Truth: Three Vocal Works” by Jessica Rudman. The new production by Kristy Chambrelli in collaboration with Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra will feature music by Jessica Rudman with a libretto by Jessica Rudman (Trigger) and Kendra Leonard (Lady Macbeth/Marie Curie Learns to Swim). The evening will be conducted by Dan D’Addio and will feature three different works. {…}
As part of its 2017 programme, the Festival della Valle D’Itria presented a staging of Vivaldi’s opera “Orlando Furioso.” Embracing the performance traditions of the baroque period and resisting the temptation to make the work “relevant,” its director, Fabio Ceresa and his production team produced a splendid reading of the work, full of color, spectacle, and beauty. The musical direction, {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has announced its 2018-19 season featuring exciting and rarely performed operatic gems. Here is a look at what the season will offer. Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” makes its Chicago premiere with direction by internationally acclaimed and award-winning director Paul Curran and under the baton of COT’s own Staley Music Director, Maestro Lidiya Yankovskaya. Katherine Weber sings the title {…}
Audience members enjoyed a rare performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden,” in English, over the weekend. Translated by Alasdair Middleton for Opera North’s 2017 production, this opera was said to possibly be Rimsky-Korsakov’s best contemporary opera. In addition to its popularity in Russia, this specific opera contains remarkably poignant folklike melodies that gave life to the overall culture and complex {…}
Seasoned operagoers are very familiar with Gaetano Donizetti, although most have only seen a paltry number of his works including the likes of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “Anna Bolena” and “La Fille du Régiment.” Donizetti is known as opera’s most prolific popular composer with over 70 operas to his name with many providing fertile unexplored territory. The innovative Chicago Opera Theater has forged {…}
This week, two rarely-performed works will get DVD and CD releases while one major artist releases a crossover album. There will also be a major archival release that should be popular among opera lovers. Il Borgomastro di Saardam Dynamic releases a rarely-performed Donizetti work from the Fondzaione Donizetti. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli conducts the work with Juan Francisco Gatell, Andrea Concetti, {…}
Gioachino Rossini was not just an enormously successful composer and gourmand extraordinaire, but also a highly astute businessman. When he eventually went to the celestial grande bouffe in 1868, he left an estate worth millions of francs. According to Sosthènes de la Rochefoucauld, Rossini composed “Il Viaggio a Reims” as “un homage complètement désintéressé,” which was 19th century French Court-speak for {…}