The Teatro San Carlo has announced a cast change for its opening night of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The company said, “We inform our audience that, due to a sudden illness of Lisette Oropesa, the role of Violetta Valéry, for the première of ‘La Traviata,’ on stage on July 14, 2024, will be performed by Marina Rebeka.” Oropesa took to social {…}
(Photo credit: Keith Saunders) The program booklet for Opera Australia’s new production at Sydney Opera House of “Tosca”, an Opera North production, says that “Puccini set each act of his opera in three very specific locations which you can still visit today: the Sant’Andrea della Valle church in Rome, the Palazzo Farnese and the Castel Sant-Angelo over the River Tiber”. {…}
(Photo credit: Monika Rittershaus) “So, who is signing the work?” an operagoer asks Raphaël Pichon and Claus Guth at a lunchtime panel about their opera-project “Samson.” The music is Rameau’s, but it is not that simple. According to Guth (and his Wikipedia search), Rameau did indeed compose a “Samson” with a libretto by Voltaire; however, it is all lost. Pichon {…}
(Photo credit: (***Trigger warning based on topics of suicide and violence towards women) Madrid’s Teatro Real closes its season with an astonishing number of 19 performances with four different casts of Puccini’s tragic tale: “Madama Butterfly.” Nicola Luisotti was in charge of the Orchestra of Teatro Real for most of the performances, and the excellent Italian stage director Damiano Michieletto {…}
The European Union Youth Orchestra has announced Iván Fischer as the Orchestra’s new Music Director, with immediate effect. Fischer will continue to serve as Music Director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, as the Honorary Guest Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and as Ehrendirigent of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. As Music Director Fischer takes place in the Orchestra’s home and annual {…}
(Photo credit: Austin Richey) Applications are now open for Detroit Opera’s 2025–26 Resident Artist Program. This newly designed program is for early-career professional opera singers. It offers individualized study to cater to the unique needs of each artist and aligns with the country’s top training programs. The program is led by opera coach and pianist Nathalie Doucet, Detroit Opera’s Head {…}
Details of the Festival of Polish Music’s 20th anniversary season have been announced. For the purposes of this article only opera and classical vocal events are included. First up, sopranos Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, Lorenza Donadini, Hanna Järveläinen, and Grace Newcombe present “SILESIA: Music from Silesian sources of the 14th and 15th centuries,” with the ensemble Peregrina. Performance Date: July 13, 2024 {…}
“An Evening of Opera” closes the Green Lake Festival of Music’s 45th season. Fan-favorite arias, duets, and trios will be performed by soprano Vanessa Becerra, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, tenor Carlos Santelli, and collaborative pianist Laurann Gilley. In a press release Gilley said, “I’ve been hearing great things about the Green Lake Festival of Music for a long time, through friends {…}
The story of how Accademia Bizantina (AB) began seems quite simple. But like all good stories, there is more to it than meets the eye. In 1983 three classmates of the Ravenna Conservatory met for coffee. This initial meeting included Angelo Nicastro, a violist and now director of the Ravenna Festival; Romano Valentini, a pianist, organist, and harpsichordist, as well {…}
(Photo credit: Hannah Rose Photography) Silkroad has announced the continuation of its Global Musician Workshop (GMW) in the summer of 2024, including the first-ever international iteration of the program in Hangzhou, China. For the fourth consecutive year, Silkroad partners with New England Conservatory for the Boston-based GMW. This year, the Boston program is held from Aug. 4-10. The Hangzhou program {…}
The Teatro Lirico di Cagliari has announced its 2024-25 Season. Opera Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” will star Fiorenza Cedolins, Rachele Stanisci, Anastasia Boldyreva, Chiara Mogini, Marco Berti, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Enrico Marrucci, and Italo Proferisce. Fabrizio Maria Carminati conducts the production by Mario Pontiggia. Performance Dates: Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2024 Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” will star Thomas Tatzl, Gurgen Baveyan, Lucrezia Drei, Ilaria {…}