It has been a hard few days in the opera Community. Over the weekend, Manfred Jung passed away and on Tuesday, tenor Paul Gyton passed away as well. Gyton was not a major soloist, but instead remained a loyal member of the chorus of the Welsh National Opera for a whopping 40 years. The tenor joined the ensemble on April 12, {…}
There has been a cancellation at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. German soprano Anett Fritsch, who was originally scheduled to take on the role of Sifare in “Mitridate, re di Ponto” has withdrawn and will be replaced by Salome Jicia in her Covent Garden debut. For years the soprano had been performing in lower profile operas but performed “La {…}
The Opera Ballet Vlaanderen has officially revealed its schedule for the 2017-18 season. The company kicks things off in Gent and Antwerp on Sept. 15 with a production of “Das Wunder der Heliane” by Korngold. The opera gets four performances at Opera Gent and five at Opera Antwerpen with Alexander Joel conducting a cast that includes Ian Storey as the {…}
Nada Puttar-Gold has died at the age of 93. The mezzo-soprano died on March 28, 2017, and was a beloved Croatian singer. Her career lasted 30 years as she rose quickly to fame. She interpreted more than fifty opera roles and appeared more than 1,000 times on opera stages and at concert halls around the world. Among her greatest accomplishments was {…}
Anna Netrebko has announced that she will sing Verdi’s “Nabucco.” During a conversation with Mary Jo Heath, the soprano revealed that she has plans to do the role of Abigaille from Verdi’s “Nabucco” in a few years. While she gave no details on where she would be singing the role, Netrebko did confirm that she is excited to sing Strauss’ {…}
Rita Orlandi has passed away at the age of 79. The Italian soprano, who died on April 8, 2017, had a major international career from the 1960s through the 1980s and was very acclaimed for her Verdi heroines. She made her professional stage debut in Milan in 1963 at the Teatro Nuovo as Giovanna in Verdi’s “Giovanna d’Arco.” Orlandi was {…}
The Teatro Real has finally announced its 2017-18 season, later than most other organizations. But the company has packed quite a punch for its upcoming showcase, with 13 operas on the docket. It all starts on Sept. 13 with Mozart’s rarely performed “Lucio Silla” directed by Claus Guth. The cast will be led by Patricia Petibon, who will sing five {…}
German tenor Manfred Jung has passed away at age 76. The tenor is perhaps best known for taking on the role of Siegfried in “Götterdämmerung” for Bayreuth’s centennial Ring cycle and also appeared at the 1975 Salzburg Easter Festival under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan. He was lauded for his work and even obtained a prize from Orpheus magazine. {…}
Opera North and its music director are reportedly ending their one-year relationship. According to Slipped Disc, music director Alexander Markovic has resigned from the company. Per the company, “Richard Mantle, General Director of Opera North, has announced that he has today accepted the resignation of Aleksandar Markovic as the Company’s Music Director. Mr. Markovic will formally leave Opera North at {…}
Natalie Dessay may have retired from the opera stage, but her art continues to live on. And while she admits to never having felt comfortable on the stage, her performances show otherwise. Born on April 19, 1965, OperaWire takes a look at some of her unforgettable roles on stage. Olympia in ‘Les Contes d’Hoffmann’ The role of Olympia was perhaps the {…}
The Royal Opera House has announced that Dinara Alieva has withdrawn from singing the role of Liù in this summer’s revival of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The role will now be performed by Abkhazian-Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava on July 5, 9, 12 and 15 Gerzmava made her Royal Opera debut in 2008 as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” and has since returned to sing {…}