(Photo credit: Lewis Valdes) Opening night of “the new FGO” sought to pique the interest of multiple generations by combining the magic of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with the unique fantasy world building of role-playing games, like Dungeons and Dragons. In this production, director Jeffrey Marc Buchman took full advantage of the creative liberties bestowed upon the leader of a {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has canceled the opening night of the 2024-25 season due to a strike called by the main theater unions of the company. The company said that the Nov. 20 performance will no longer take place but the following performances on Nov. 23, 26, 29, and Dec. 1 are still set to be performed as scheduled. Ticketholders {…}
Teatro San Carlo has announced that Putin supporter Idar Abdrazakov will no longer sing in the upcoming productions of “Don Carlo” and “Attila.” The news comes days after the Huffington Post published a piece that openly questioned Abdrazakov’s hiring and included a quote from Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbaluk, who was unaware he would be singing next to the Russian bass. {…}
American music producer Jay David Saks has died at the age of 79. Born in 1945 in New York City, Saks studied at the Juilliard School and later graduated from Mannes College of Music in 1970. In 1972, he joined Columbia Masterworks and later left in 1974 when he joined RCA Records. Saks went on to win 13 Grammy Awards {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will hear new recordings of two famed works, one in the French repertoire and the other in the Italian repertoire. There will also be holiday recordings and some world-premiere pieces. Changing Navona releases Choral Chameleon, under the direction of Vince {…}
The Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires has named a new principal guest conductor and director of Opera Studio. The company named Beatrice Venezi as its new Principal Guest Conductor and Verónica Cangemi as the new Director of the Opera Studio. Venzi studied piano and conducting in Milan and has collaborated with many of the great singers in the world including Plácido {…}
The Bilbao Opera is set to present a new production of Puccini’s “Il Trittico.” The new production is set to open on Nov 23 and will be presented on the 26, 29, and Dec. 2 at the Euskalduna Bilbao. The performances will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death. The production by Paco Azorín will be the first time that {…}
Oksana Lyniv has received the Bavarian Cultural Prize. The Ukrainian conductor took to social media to announce the award and said, “I am very honored to receive this special Bavarian Cultural Prize personally from the cultural minister Markus Blume, since I am artistically connected to Bavaria for already two decades. I am happy to donate my prize of 10 000 {…}
The Park Avenue Armory has announced its 2025 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Konstantin Krimmel and Ammiel Bushakevitz lead a program of music by Schubert, Loewe, and Vaughan Williams. Performance Dates: Feb. 22 & 24, 2025 Erin Morley and Gerald Martin Moore lead a program of music by Schumann, Berg, Saint-Saëns, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Ricky Ian Gordon. {…}
(Credit: © Luciano Romano) Rai5 is set to present the Teatro San Carlo’s opening night production of Dvořák’s “Rusalka.” Rai Cultura will produce the recording which will be shown at 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2024. The production will be directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Dan Ettinger. Asmik Grigorian will star in the title role alongside Adam Smith as the {…}
(Credit: Daniel Welch) Leah Hawkins has joined the roster of IMG Artists for General Management. She will be represented by Executive Vice President and Global Head of Vocal Matthew Horner and Artist Manager Callan Coughlan. Hawkins is the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner and a graduate of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She is also {…}