Detroit Opera 2021-2022 Review: Aida in Concert

https://operawire.com/detroit-opera-2021-2022-review-aida-in-concert/

On December 30th, Detroit Opera ended its transformative 2021-2022 season with a concert production of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Aida,” his antepenultimate work whose Oriental plot and exotic aesthetics discredit the work’s premiere location, ironically the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, Egypt. It seemed people of all kinds came to see this production, one of opera’s most infamous players. It should {…}

DVD and CD Releases, News

Kiri Te Kanawa, Jonas Kaufmann & Jakub Józef Orliński Lead CD/DVD Releases

https://operawire.com/kiri-te-kanawa-jonas-kaufmann-jakub-jozef-orlinski-lead-cd-dvd-releases/

As part of this week’s CD / DVD releases, audiences will get an early Christmas, solo albums, a world premiere recording, and a classic recording. Here is a look at what audiences can watch or listen to this week. Anima Aeterna Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński brings his latest album to Erato, showcasing an adventurous album of sacred arias and motets {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Teatro Nuovo 2021 Review: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

https://operawire.com/teatro-nuovo-2021-review-il-barbiere-di-siviglia/

Photos: Steven Pisano This review is of the July 27, 2021 performance. Opera is back in New York City, and it returned not as a big-budget production with gargantuan sets, light shows, animals, and all the trappings of grand opera but as a humble outdoor, semi-staged presentation of Rossini’s beloved comedy, “The Barber of Seville,” put on by Teatro Nuovo, {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Composer Evan Mack on His New Album ‘The Travelled Road’

https://operawire.com/q-a-composer-evan-mack-on-his-new-album-the-travelled-road/

On March 26, award-winning composer Evan Mack’s new album of art song, “The Travelled Road” released worldwide on all major streaming platforms. The recording came about organically after Mack invited mezzo-soprano Megan Marino and pianist John Arida to Skidmore College in New York State to noodle around and explore some ideas. Marino and Arida had worked together, and with Mack, {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q&A: Soprano Rainelle Krause on Taking the Queen of the Night to New Heights

https://operawire.com/qa-soprano-rainelle-krause-on-taking-the-queen-of-the-night-to-new-heights/

Aerialist noun : one who performs feats in the air or above the ground, especially on the trapeze. Does singing “Der Hölle Rache,” the famous Queen of the Night aria, upside down while suspended by yards of silk count as a “feat?” If not, it should because that’s exactly what soprano Rainelle Krause does. Whether in the air or on the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Vicenza In Lirica 2020 Review: L’Olimpiade

https://operawire.com/vicenza-in-lirica-2020-review-lolimpiade/

(Photo: Michel Crosera) Vicenza in Lirica closed its 2020 festival with a second performance of Vivaldi’s opera “L’Olimpiade.” Written to a libretto by Metastasio in 1734, it received its premiere at Venice’s Teatro Sant’Angelo. Yet, the work struggled to establish itself and had to wait over 200 years before it eventually received a revival, this time at Siena’s Teatro dei {…}

Special Features

The Pandemic Prevention Plan That Enabled the Salzburg Festival’s 100th Edition to Take Place

https://operawire.com/the-pandemic-prevention-plan-that-enabled-the-salzburg-festivals-100th-edition-to-take-place/

Every year, the Salzburg Festival fascinates with its superhuman efforts to nurture the prosperous cultural life of the city. During the summer they organize and present to the public the full seasonal repertoire of the opera house, drama theater, and concert hall. This year, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of almost the entire world’s cultural {…}

DVD and CD Reviews, Reviews

Off the Beaten Track: David Hertzberg’s Hallucinatory ‘The Wake World’ Serves Up a Sonic Feast

https://operawire.com/off-the-beaten-track-david-hertzbergs-hallucinatory-the-wake-world-serves-up-a-sonic-feast/

This month’s Off the Beaten Track explores the newly released recording of “The Wake World: A Tale for Babes and Sucklings,” a one-act opera composed by Los Angeles-based composer/librettist David Hertzberg and inspired by Aleister Crowley’s work of the same name. The recording is the first opera released under the Tzadik label. Founder and executive producer of Tzadik, John Zorn {…}

News

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2019-20 Review: Fernand Cortez

https://operawire.com/maggio-musicale-fiorentina-2019-20-review-fernand-cortez/

(Photo: Michele Monasta) In 1808 France turned on its ally, Spain, who up to this point had been jointly engaged in a war against Portugal. Aware of the power of propaganda, its Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, expressed a wish for an opera on the subject of Cortez’s conquest of Mexico. The parallels between the events were fairly clear. France was a {…}

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