Zinka Milanov was born on May 17, 1906. Exactly 12 years later, on May 17, 1918, Birgit Nilsson was born. The two women would go on to markedly different careers, though they both performed at the greatest houses in the world and would perform with many of the same artists, albeit in different operas. Both women were dramatic sopranos, and {…}
Ardea Arts with the University of Kentucky opera theatre are coming together to present, “Bounce: The Basketball Opera Pop-Up Shows” with performances all around New York City basketball courts. The series will start on May 17 and continue every Wednesday up until June 14. Each week the location of the production will change, but all of them start at begin at {…}
We’ve talked up the finest female performers. We’ve engaged in a discussion about the best men onstage. Now we shift over to the best conductors of the year, the artists that make the entire production work. In this edition, we only picked five, given that, unlike the other categories, there are far fewer to choose from. Here are our favorite {…}
This article represents the first of our “Opera For Beginners” section. To celebrate the date of an opera’s world premiere, we will start to create separate profiles for operas that the uninitiated can reference for their learning pleasure! Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” is one of the staples of the Verismo opera, a style of the late 1800s that showcased the lives {…}
While the bel canto repertoire is among the most popular in the operatic canon, most people are quick to dismiss the genre’s overall quality, noting that the works themselves are simply a vehicle to show off a singer’s virtuosity. But Irina Lungu could not disagree more. The Russian soprano, who has dedicated the first five months of 2017 to immersing {…}
Hibla Gerzmava will make her Chicago Debut in a one-night event. The Russian soprano will join Maestro Vladimir Spivakov and the acclaimed Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra on June 4, 2017, at Orchestra Hall at Chicago’s Symphony Center. This performance will be part of MVCO’s 2017 North American Tour which is being presented by the Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation. Germava will {…}
This article is a joint collaboration between David & Francisco Salazar. Yesterday we gave you the finest female performers of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season. Now we turn toward the men that truly brought down the house. Remember that these picks are mere favorites based purely on personal preference. Since there were so many incredible performers this season, here is {…}
Pretty Yende has been awarded the South Africa Music Award for International Achiever. According to a press release, the soprano is being recognized for her major strides on a global scale. The soprano, still very much at the start of her career, has already been showcased at some of the greatest opera houses in the world. This season was a {…}
This summer the Skylark Opera will present Mozart’s beloved masterpiece “Don Giovanni.” The new production will a site-specific production in collaboration with Angels & Demons Entertainment and will be set during the Prohibition era, circa 1932. The production will feature Don Giovanni as a nefarious owner of the most popular speakeasy in town. The production will take place at the Minneapolis {…}
(Credit: Tandun.com) For centuries, the major opera houses of the world have regularly programmed operas from European composers with some offerings of North American and, in fewer cases, South American composers. But when was the last time, with the exception of Tan Dun’s “The Last Emperor,” you heard an opera from an Asian composer. You probably haven’t. And it is {…}
It was one of New York City’s truly beautiful, spring days on May 14, 2017, which made it all the harder to leave the sun and enter into the glass lobby of the Alice Tully Recital Hall, but Carolyn Sampson was here to give a recital of her floral-themed program of art song, from her CD “Fleurs,” released in 2015. {…}