https://operawire.com/opera-profile-benjamin-brittens-gloriana/
(Credit: Javier del Real / Teatro Real de Madrid) Benjamin Britten’s “Gloriana” is one of his unique works, created to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The opera had its world premiere on June 8, 1953 with Joan Cross in the role of Queen Elizabeth and Peter Pears as Earl of Essex. Gerain Evans was Lord Mountjoy. It is {…}
https://operawire.com/5-facts-about-piotr-beczalas-relationship-to-wagners-music/
This summer Piotr Beczala is set to return to the Bayreuth Festival to reprise the title role in Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” Performances are set to reunite the tenor with Anna Netrebko and Christian Thielemann. Back in January, the tenor sat down with the Wagner Society of New York to talk about the famed composer and performing with Anna Netrebko. Here are {…}
https://operawire.com/the-xen-of-opera-exploring-the-creation-of-nahasdzaan-in-the-glittering-world/
Opera, Song and Music Theater is quivering, twisting, and turning. Could it be that we are in an renaissance? There is a new blood pulsing through its veins. Opera and theater makers are pulling at its heart, resuscitating our interest and taking us to diverse locations with as yet unclassifiable languages and forms. The Xen of Opera looks at the {…}
https://operawire.com/seattle-opera-2018-19-review-carmen/
It’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen a live production of “Carmen,” so my anticipation was high for opening night of Seattle Opera’s updated production. Does absence makes operatic eyes and ears grow fonder? The boldly designed act curtain that welcomed us called to mind a giant, colorful yet tattered roadside billboard with the word “Carmen” in bright relief, {…}
https://operawire.com/la-opera-2018-19-review-el-gato-montes-the-wildcat/
(Photo Credit: Cory Weaver) Long before I arrived in Los Angeles, I read Edward Rothstein’s “New York Times” review of the LA Opera’s previous production in 1994 of Manuel Penella’s “El Gato Montès” and what he said there about LA Opera’s mounting of Zarzuelas as a “conscious effort to attract Hispanic audiences to the opera house.” Curious, I bought CDs {…}
https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2018-19-review-rigoletto/
On the evening of April 26, 2019, guests excitedly filed into the Metropolitan Opera’s grand auditorium, eager to experience Verdi’s masterpiece “Rigoletto.” Returning to the stage for its second run of performances this season with a new principal cast, Michael Mayer’s production sets the tragic opera in Las Vegas in the 1960s. With the audience seated and Maestro Nicola Luisotti standing ready {…}
https://operawire.com/interview-baritone-lucia-lucas-on-making-historic-u-s-debut-in-don-giovanni/
On May 3, 2019 the Tulsa Opera will host an American first. According to a carefully worded press release, it will be “the first time a trans woman has performed a principal role on the operatic stage in the US.” Baritone Lucia Lucas will make her American main-stage debut in the title role of Mozart and da Ponte’s “Don Giovanni.” {…}
https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2018-19-season-review-la-traviata/
On April 20, 2019, audiences gathered at the Metropolitan Opera for one of the last few performances of this season’s run of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The nearly-full auditorium was abuzz and for a number of reasons. This new production by Michael Mayer opened in December to mixed reception, resuming its run in the beginning of April. Despite the gorgeous {…}
https://operawire.com/manhattan-school-of-music-senior-opera-theater-2018-19-review-albert-herring/
Saturday, April 13, 2019 saw the second performance of the Manhattan School of Music’s production of the Springtime favorite, “Albert Herring.” With the production running for three nights, each night featured a different cast, comprised of students from the school’s Senior Opera Theater, headed by conductor Jorge Parodi and director Dona D. Vaughn. This effervescent work, composed by Benjamin Britten, {…}