Fresno Grand Opera has canceled the rest of its 2016-17 season after declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy. “This is a decision that was not made lightly, considering our community of dedicated patrons and years of quality performances that were passionately presented,” noted a statement on the company’s official website. The company had already been mired in chaos after General Director Matthew {…}
The Opernhaus Zurich has announced its 2017-18 season which will feature over 30 operas. New Productions The season kicks off with on Sept. 24, 2017 with Barry Kosky’s production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” starring Peter Mattei and Pavol Breslik. The show lasts nine performances, the last one on October 28. From there, the company will showcase such new looks at {…}
The Barcelona-based Teatro Liceu held a press conference on Friday afternoon to showcase what it had in store for the 17-18 season and revealed a major surprise. Among its many entries, the company announced that Dmitri Hvorostovsky would be performing two operas next season including “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “The Demon.” The news comes as a huge surprise considering {…}
Many opera companies get back in on the action this weekend from all around the country in one of the busier weekends of the season. The Dallas Opera makes its great return on Friday, March 10 with a production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Hui He stars in the leading role with Gianluca Terranova, Lucas Meachem and Manuela Custer rounding out the {…}
Lorenza da Ponte, born on March 10, 1749, is best known for three collaborations he had with Mozart. Those operas, “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Don Giovanni” and “Così Fan Tutte” stand as some of the greatest in the repertoire, not only because of Mozart’s great music, but also as a result of Da Ponte’s brilliant dramatic skills. But the librettist {…}
Strauss and Wagner will dominate in some of the top theaters this weekend. Additionally, a new production of Giordano’s “Andrea Chenier” will open to a sold out house will Anna Netrebko will return to one of her signature roles. Austria The Vienna State Opera kicks off the weekend with Strauss’ “Arabella.” The opera is headlined by a cast that includes {…}
The Teatro Colón has responded to Angela Gheorghiu’s cancellation. Via Facebook, the Argentine opera company said, “The Teatro Colón reports that for artistic reasons, the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu will not opening the 2017 opera season at the Teatro Colón with her interpretation of Adriana Lecouvreur.” The company continued noting that “soprano Virginia Tola who will perform the leading role {…}
Franz Liszt is not a composer that you would usually associate with opera. In fact, the composer only completed one such work, his “Don Sanche, ou Le château de l’amour.” That work was lost for a long time before it was rediscovered in 1903 and given its first modern performance 74 years later. Now another Liszt opera is getting a {…}
Jonas Kaufmann will limit his engagements outside Europe. In an article by The New York Times, the German tenor said stated that he wishes to remain close to his family, something made difficult when he travels to the U.S. for new productions. “Any operatic contract which I accept in Europe still allows me the possibility to be with my family {…}
On March 9, 1842, Verdi scored his first major success with his opera “Nabucco.” Two years later, on March 9, 1844, the composer scored another riveting success with the world premiere of his “Ernani.” While the respective journeys of these two works have diverged over the one-hundred plus years since their respective debuts (“Nabucco” is a cornerstone of the repertoire {…}
This weekend audiences in Munich will get a chance to experience the dynamic duo that is Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros in Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.” Kaufmann likely needs no introduction, the tenor arguably the most popular of his voice type in the entire universe. Harteros deserves equal praise, her dramatic soprano a superb instrument that is simply unmatched in the {…}