Leah Crocetto, Lawrence Brownlee & Ailyn Pérez To Be Featured In LA Philharmonic’s 2018-19 Season

The LA Philharmonic has announced its 2018-19 season featuring some of the greatest stars in the world. For this season announcement, we will solely concentrate on the operatic and vocal events. Take a look. Baroque The LA Phil kicks off its baroque series with “L’arpeggiata” featuring musical director Christina Pluhar, soprano Céline Scheen, male soprano Vincenzo Capezzuto, and dancer Anna Dego. The concert will {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Q & A: Shura Baryshnikov on Working With Odyssey Opera as Jeanne d’Arc

Shura Baryshnikov grew up in an unusual situation. As the daughter of Jessica Lange and Mikhail Baryshnikov, she knew that taking a career path in the arts would undeniably lead to comparisons. In a recent talk with OperaWire, she spoke about this major challenge in her life. “I definitely had to overcome the fear of being compared to my parents and {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Susan Graham & Nathan Gunn To Celebrate 100 Years Of Bernstein At The Lyric Opera Of Chicago

The Lyric Opera of Chicago is joining hundreds of cultural institutions across the globe in honoring the 100th birthday of legendary American composer, conductor, pianist, and educator Leonard Bernstein. In honor of his centennial, the Lyric opera will present a concert on March 10, 2018 featuring two-time Tony-nominated Broadway singer and actress Kate Baldwin and opera stars Susan Graham and {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Pacific Opera Project To Present Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’

The Pacific Opera Project will open it’s 2018 season with one of its biggest productions yet, “Mozart’s Don Giovanni.” The production, which is slated to run from April 13 through 22, 2018 at The Vortex, a large warehouse space in downtown Los Angeles will feature 70 tables per night, movie theater style seating, and single seating at communal tables. The {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Violetta Urmana Replaces Alice Coote In Spain

Violetta Urmana will replace Alice Coote in the Spanish National Orchestra’s upcoming concert. According to a press release from the orchestra, Coote canceled the concert due to personal reasons. She was to perform in a program entitled “Cleopatra’s Requiem” on Feb. 16, 17 and 18 under Sir Mark Elder. Now Urmana will take over and perform the scheduled program which {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Opera Rara 2017-18 Review – The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: Michael Nyman’s Opera About Madness Makes a Lot of Sense in Krakow

Since 2009 Opera Rara has been bringing obscure operatic works to the resplendent royal city of Kraków in Poland. Even though this year’s Opera Rara Festival included works by Charpentier, Gluck, Purcell and John Blow (the latter performed by John Butt and the superb Dunedin Concert) it is not just baroque bijoux which are presented to the receptive and appreciative {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Manhattan School of Music Master Recital 2018: Baritone William Huyler Delivers Knockout Showcase of ‘Forbidden’ Composers

Opening with Ravel’s « Cinq mélodies populaires grecques, » William Huyler set the tone for what was an introspective and heartfelt themed Master recital at the Manhattan School of Music’s Greenfield Hall. Huyler emphasized how each of the art song composers chosen for his recital (Ravel, Mahler and Copland), were each forbidden to have their creations performed at some point in their {…}

Feb 14, 2018

The 14 Greatest Love Duets In Opera

It’s Valentine’s Day, the day to cherish a significant other. Last year we took a cynical look at the holiday, but not this year. Opera is rife with love, almost every single plot in every single work has some communion of two persons in that blissful word. In fact, love in opera has incited just as many battles and tension {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Chicago Opera Theater 2017-18 Review: Elizabeth Cree: A Masterpiece Hits the Stage in Potent Fashion

The Chicago Opera Theater presented a stellar performance of “Elizabeth Cree” on Feb. 10, 2018, at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building. A co-production with Opera Philadelphia, this murder mystery opera based on Peter Ackroyd’s historical crime novel, “The Trial of Elizabeth Cree,” treads a knife-edge, successfully balancing horrific dramatic narrative, tongue-in-cheek vaudeville, and bittersweet pathos. Mark Campbell’s text {…}

Feb 14, 2018

All the Times Renée Fleming Was Featured on a Film’s Soundtrack

Renée Fleming, born on Valentine’s Day, is widely known in pop culture. Perhaps more than any other singer in the world, her voice has become a signature of the mainstream when people refer to opera. One might point to her iconic Super Bowl appearance a few years back when she became the first opera singer to sing at the widely {…}

Feb 14, 2018

Metropolitan Opera 2017-18 Preview: How Many Times Have the Stars of ‘La Bohème’ Taken On Their Roles At the Met?

On Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, the Met Opera revives Puccini’s “La Bohème” with a star-studded cast. Every single one of the major artists to take on the opera is a veteran in the part at the Met. So here is a look at their Met trajectory in their respective roles to date. Sonya Yoncheva – Mimì The Bulgarian soprano’s second-ever {…}