Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior was the quintessential Wagner tenor while Beniamino Gigli was one of the most beloved Italian tenors that history has ever seen. Both were born on the same day – March 20, 1890. While they both made their professional debuts one year apart, the Dane’s came in 1913 while the Italian’s a year late in 1914, they {…}
This Post is for the performance on March 18, 2017. For audiences expecting a normal night out to see cabaret sung by the usual voice types, this was no such night. The SubCulture, an underground performance venue near the East Village, was presenting an evening of musical theater composer, Jason Robert Brown (Tony-award winning composer of Parade and Bridges of Madison {…}
While there are only two new releases this week, Natalie Dessay fans will definitely be in for a surprise with her return to classical music. Natalie Dessay’ “Schubert” The eponymous soprano Natalie Dessay returns to the classical repertoire with her second album for Sony Classical. This time she takes on Schubert songs with pianist Phillippe Cassard. Some of the pieces {…}
Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” is one of the prima donna assoluta roles in the repertoire and one of the most difficult in Bel Canto. This week Marina Rebeka continues her exploration into this repertoire as she makes her stage role of the opera debut at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Earlier in January, the soprano made her role debut in a {…}
The Teatro Communale di Bologna has cut ties with the Rossini Opera Festival after 30 years. The company announced the news noting that the ROF has refused to credit Bologna as co-producer. That means that it is not entitled to state subsidy from the Cultural Ministry. It added that since it did not have credit the Bologna Opera will be {…}
The Komische Oper Berlin has announced its 2017-18 season with a number of revivals and new productions. New Productions The season will open with Debussy’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” with Dominik Königer and Jonathan McGovern as Pelléas and Nadja Mchantaf as Mélisande. The production will be directed by Barry Kosky. Stefan Cifolelli leads the ensemble cast in Phillip Glass’s monumental opera {…}
Violin fantasies based on major operas was a major trend back in the 1800s with such virtuoso violinists like Sarasate, Paganini, Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski looking for vehicles that could showcase their skills. Of these fantasies, Sarasate’s adaptation of “Carmen” is perhaps the best-known of the lot with a 20th-century version by Franz Waxman following suit. But no opera has been {…}
This past Thursday night, the NYC Choral Society gave their yearly gala, once again at one of Manhattan’s finest social clubs, The Metropolitan Room, a former men’s only club on 5th Av. kitty-corner the Plaza Hotel. Each year the NYCHORAL performs concerts of their own ranging from baroque, Christmas, and contemporary music and are regularly part of the famed Richard {…}
The New School will live stream the LoftOpera’s production of Rossini’s “Otello.” For weeks the performance at the LightSpace Studios in Brooklyn has been sold out and as a result, the live stream will be an opportunity for audiences to see the production all around the world. The showcase, which had its premiere earlier this week, scored rave reviews and represents {…}
In commemoration of Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthday on March 18, 1844, OperaWire has the great fortune of collaborating with famed conductor Gerard Schwarz to share a special memory about his very first operatic encounter with the composer. It is very interesting to think of the wonderful composers who are known primarily for a single work: Pachelbel – Cannon; Dukas – “The Sorcerer’s {…}
Marina Rebeka has announced that she will not perform the March 28 performance of Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. The soprano, who is currently in rehearsals for her stage role debut, announced on Twitter that “due to miscommunication with the theater” she would be performing the originally scheduled performance. As a result, Roberta Mantegna will sing {…}
