Parterre Box founder and opera critic James Jorden has died. The opera industry blog announced the news stating, “Details about a memorial will be announced in due course, but in the meantime, members of cher public are invited to share memories of James in the comments.” Jorden, who was born in 1954, spent over 20 years as an opera critic {…}
The Management and Musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra have successfully concluded negotiations for a new, three-year trade agreement. The new agreement is for the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 seasons and was ratified by the members of the Orchestra through a vote last week. The agreement mentions that the Cleveland Orchestra musicians will receive annual increases in minimum weekly compensation of four {…}
On Oct. 2, 2023, Tenor and conductor Herbert John Handt died at the age of 97. Born on May 26, 1926, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Handt studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the Vienna Academy of Music. He went on to make his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 1949 and went on to make his conducting debut in {…}
The Music Troupe will present “Masque of Vengeance” this November in London and Manchester. The opera is adapted from “The Revenger’s Tragedy” of 1606 and explores lust for sex and power in a criminal regime. The chamber opera by Edward Lambert and Thomas Middleton will be directed by David Edwards and designed by Tabitha Benton-Evans and movement by Jenny Weston. {…}
University of Houston’s Moore Opera Center has announced its 2023-24 season, which will include three productions. This is the first season under Artistic Director Kathleen Belcher and Music Director Keith Chambers. “I am thrilled about the operas we are producing this season and for the opportunities we are giving our students. In selecting the operas, we wanted to achieve two {…}
(© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2022) Conductor Lina González-Granados has joined Opus 3 Artists for worldwide management. The Colombian-American conductor will be represented by Julijana Mijalković and Jenny Vogel in Opus 3’s Los Angeles office. “I am honored and delighted to become part of the Opus 3 family,” González-Granados said in an official press statement. “This represents the start of a {…}
Heartbeat Opera has unveiled its 2023-24 season, the 10th in the company’s history. First up is “The Golden Cock.” The opera is a riff on Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Golden Cockerel.” The work was created by Nico Krell and Jacob Ashworth with arrangements by Daniel Schlosberg. The opera stars Ariana Wehr, Sara Couden, Daniel Moody, Elliott Paige, and John Taylor Ward. Performance {…}
In the second cast of the Teatro Real de Madrid’s “Medea,” Saioa Hernandez proved a revelation. Her dramatic instrument with a bright dark timbre, her expansive vibrato, her thunderous high register, her sonorous low register in chest voice, and her fluid vocal line make her ideal for this role. Medea’s writing is mostly central, we could even say that it {…}
Photo credit: © Dominique Jaussein The Opéra de Nice Côte d’Azur inaugurated their 2023-2024 season with a new staging of Léo Delibe’s “Lakmé” coproduced with the Opéra-Comique in Paris, which premiered the production in September-October 2022, and the Opéra national du Rhin which will present performances in Mulhouse and Strasbourg in November 2023. Pelly’s Anti-Kitsch ‘Lakmé’ This coproduction marks the {…}
(Photo credit: Raftermen/courtesy of The Atlanta Opera) Atlanta Opera gave a skillful East Coast premiere of Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s “The Shining.” As most are familiar with the plot of Stephen King’s 1977 novel, “The Shining,” from the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film, I will not recount the storyline. However, it is important to mention the operatic version is based {…}
The Sapporo Symphony in Japan has announced a new Chief Conductor. In an official press release, the company said, “that due to the completion of the tenure of Mo. Matthias Bamert, Chief Conductor of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, as of March 2024, we will invite the following conductors.” As a result, the company named Elias Grandy as Chief conductor starting {…}