A butterfly can never be caged or it dies. The same can be said of an opera singer, who needs the freedom to explore and develop as an artist. When an artist is caged and not allowed to carve out an organic path, he or she may burn out very quickly. During a recent interview with OperaWire, soprano Pretty Yende {…}
Despite cancelling his performances of “Tosca” at the Metropolitan Opera, Jonas Kaufmann is still slated to perform in New York next season. In addition to his engagements with the Met, the tenor was still scheduled for a performance of the second act of “Tristan und Isolde” at Carnegie Hall with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. New York Times Reporter Michael Cooper, {…}
It has now been over three years since Jonas Kaufmann has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera. Fans were excited to see the tenor return next season for a hotly anticipated “Tosca,” but alas, the wait for his return to New York will continue after news broke out that he has canceled his appearances next season. The New York Times broke the {…}
On March 13, Medici.tv will present the Theatre des Champs Elysse’s production of Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria.” The opera is set to star Rolando Villazón, who made his role debut as Ulysse earlier this year. The new production by Mariame Clément also stars Magdalena Kožená as Pénélope as well as Katherine Watson, Kresimir Spicer, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Isabelle Druet, Maarten Engeltjes, Callum Thorpe and Lothar Odinius. Early music specialist Emmanuelle Haïm {…}
Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov will perform Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier” at the Hungarian State Opera. The news was revealed by the Instagram account La Splendida_Netrebko, which posted a picture of the scheduled concert performance on Dec. 29. Netrebko and Eyvazov will perform the concert after their scheduled performances at the Teatro Alla Scala, which will open the 2017-18 Season. The {…}
March is upon us and that means that the Music Academy of the West’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition winners are slated for a busy tour in coming weeks. Baritone Ben Lowe and pianist Madeline Slettedahl, the artists in question, will be heading on a recital tour that takes them through Houston (March 9), Santa Barbara (March 11), Chicago (March 14) and {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has added a live stream to its series for 2017. The company announced that on March 18 opera-lovers from all around the globe will have the chance to experience tenor Jonas Kaufmann in Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.” The tenor will star in director Philipp Stölzl’s new production alongside soprano Anja Harteros, in her role debut as Maddalena di Coigny, and Luca Salsi as Carlo Gérard. Omer {…}
It was a fun week for a lot of major superstars in the opera world. Let’s start off with Carmen Giannattasio’s amazing week where she was not only given the honor of Knight of the order of the Star of the Italian Republic, but she also got to hang out with none other than legendary actress Dame Judi Dench. {…}
Are you excited for the weekend? Well, we are as you will get to hear some of the most exciting stars singing in the world’s leading opera houses. Check it out right here! Austria At the Vienna State Opera, audiences will get the chance to see Puccini’s “Turandot” with a star-studded cast including Elena Pankratova, Heinz Zednik, Ryan Speedo Green, {…}
Bizet’s “Carmen” is one of the great operas of all time and one of the few to really have a massive impact on popular culture. The opera, which premiered back on March 3, 1875, was a failure upon premiering with Bizet never actually getting a chance to experience the success of his masterwork. Since then the opera, which was adapted {…}
A French classic returns to the Met stage this weekend as the other major companies around the states continue business as usual. Audiences will get a chance to relive Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” at the Met with a new cast starring Pretty Yende and Stephen Costello. The following day, Massenet’s “Werther,” which was widely praised (including by OperaWire) makes its {…}