https://operawire.com/obituary-franco-zeffirelli-dies-at-96/
Franco Zeffirelli has died at the age of 96 on June 15, 2019 after suffering from a long illness in his home in Rome. The great Italian director was born Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli in the outskirts of Florence, Italy to Alaide Garosi and Ottorino Corsi. Zeffirelli graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in 1941 and went to the {…}
https://operawire.com/kristina-mkhitaryan-adriana-gonzalez-lead-opera-national-de-lorraines-2019-20-season/
The Opéra National de Lorraine has announced its 2019-20 season featuring six productions. For the purpose of this article, we will only concentrate on the opera productions. Opera Reyer’s “Sigurd” gets a concert performance with Peter Wedd, Jean-Sebastien Bou, Jerome Boutillier, Nicolas Cavallier, Catherine Hunold, and Camille Schnoor. Frederic Chaslin conducts. Performance Date: Oct. 14 & 17, 2019 David Hermann {…}
https://operawire.com/wigmore-hall-independent-opera-international-song-competition-announces-competitors/
Wigmore has announced the selected singers and pianists for the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition. The competitors are set to represent a number of nations including the U.K., New Zealand, the U.S, France, Spain, Romania, Austria, Korea, and Germany among others. Of the announced competitors only four singers were not announced with a pianist. The Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera {…}
https://operawire.com/royal-concertgebouw-orchestra-announces-2019-20-season/
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal performances. Kicking off the 2019-20 season is “James Gaffigan Leads Debussy and Roussel,“ to be held in the Royal Concert Hall’s Large Hall. James Gaffigan will conduct the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in an evening of French works of exotic influence. {…}
https://operawire.com/florence-honors-franco-zeffirelli-museum-and-performing-arts-center-set-to-open-in-september/
Opening in September, the International Center for the Performing Arts will give visitors the chance to look into the life’s work of revered opera and film director Franco Zeffirelli. Located behind the historic Palazzo Vecchio, the center will offer access to not only thousands of books on art, history, music, but courses on stage design as well as concerts and {…}
https://operawire.com/on-this-day-a-look-at-waltraud-meiers-roles-outside-the-wagner-repertory/
Waltraud Meier is recognized as one of the world’s greatest Wagnerians as she has performed most of the great soprano and mezzo roles from the composer. For 20 years she was the Isolde of choice for most houses and she also succeeded as Kundry in “Parsifal.” However, most will forget that the singer accomplished great acclaim in the types of {…}
https://operawire.com/birmingham-opera-company-to-present-world-premiere-of-re-wire/
Birmingham Opera Company has announced the world premiere of “RE-WIRE, running April 28–30, 2026 at Forum Digbeth in Birmingham. The production brings together six world premieres of newly commissioned works, made with and about the people of Birmingham. The six works include Leon Clowes’s “Absent Fathers,” directed by Finn Lacey; Romarna Campbell’s “The Quiet Rebellion Continues,” directed by Harriet Taylor; {…}
https://operawire.com/elgar-festival-announces-2026-edition-featuring-i-fagiolini-jenny-lind-singers-april-fredrick/
The Elgar Festival has announced its 2026 season, running May 23–31 across Worcester, Malvern, and Pershore Multi-disciplinary artist Nakisha Swatton leads a new collaborative work developed with local amateur and professional musicians, inspired by Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” The performance brings together the Malvern Taiko drummers, Daniel Neville string ensemble, Black Voices Choir, Academy of Contemporary Music Birmingham, Grosvenor Road Studios, {…}
https://operawire.com/the-elgar-festival-announces-2026-season/
The 2026 Elgar Festival has announced its program, running May 23–31 across Worcester, Malvern, and surrounding Worcestershire venues. Here are the vocal performances on offer. The Jenny Lind Singers, directed by Lynne Lindner, perform a program of works by women composers including Imogen Holst, Cecilia McDowall, Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, Elizabeth Poston, Sarah Quartel, and others, alongside Liz Dilnot Johnson’s “Nimrod {…}
