57 search results for…

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opernhaus Zürich 2024-25 Review: Salome

https://operawire.com/opernhaus-zurich-2024-25-review-salome/

(Photos: Paul Leclaire) Opernhaus Zürich revives its 2021 production of Richard Strauss’s “Salome,” directed by Andreas Homoki. The striking set design by Hartmut Meyer features two massive, crescent-shaped rotating structures—an evident nod to the libretto’s many references to the moon. One of these structures serves as a raked stage representing the terrace of Herod’s palace, while the other hovers above {…}

News, Season Announcement

Sondra Radvanovsky, Cecilia Bartoli, Piotr Beczała, Elina Garanča, Benjamin Bernheim & Sabine Devieilhe Headline Palau de la Música Catalana’s 2025-26 Season

https://operawire.com/sondra-radvanovsky-cecilia-bartoli-piotr-beczala-elina-garanca-benjamin-bernheim-sabine-devieilhe-headline-palau-de-la-musica-catalanas-2025-26-season/

The Palau de la Música Catalana has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Adolf Gassol conducts Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Performance Dates: Sept. 6 & Dec. 6, 2025 Puccini’s “Tosca” will be performed. Performance Date: Sept. 11, 2025 Julia Kleiter joins the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and Andrés Salado for G. Ortiz and Tchaikovsky. Performance {…}

News, Season Announcement

Lise Davidsen, Asmik Grigorian, Pretty Yende, Serena Sáenz, Xabier Anduaga, Javier Camarena, Michel Fabiano & Saioa Hernández Lead Gran Teatre del Liceu’s 2025-26 Season

https://operawire.com/lise-davidsen-asmik-grigorian-pretty-yende-serena-saenz-xabier-anduaga-javier-camarena-michel-fabiano-saioa-hernandez-lead-gran-teatre-del-liceus-2025-26-season/

The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with “The Cunning Little Vixen,” featuring Peter Mattei, Anaïs Masllorens, David Alegret, Elena Tsallagova, Alejandro López, Milan Perišić, Sara Bañeras, Angela Brower, Mireia Pintó, Laura Brasó, and Mercedes Gancedo. Josep Pons conducts the production by Barrie Kosky. Performance Dates: Sept. 20-30, 2025 Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten” will star Anthony Roth Costanzo, {…}

Reviews

Opéra-Théâtre de Metz 2024-25 Review: Tosca

https://operawire.com/opera-theatre-de-metz-2024-25-review-tosca/

(© Philippe Gisselbrecht – Opéra-Théâtre de l’Eurométropole de Metz) After having offered “La Rondine” at the opening of the season and before “La Messe de Requiem” at the Saint Etienne Cathedral in Metz on November 29, the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz is featuring Puccini’s “Tosca” from November 15 to 21. Illuminating Production Details First of all, Patrick Méeüs‘s set is one {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 Review: Madama Butterfly

https://operawire.com/festival-daix-en-provence-2024-review-madama-butterfly/

(Photo credit: © Ruth Walz) Puccini in Aix-en-Provence is not an obvious combination, and it was not until 2019 with Christophe Honoré’s “Tosca” production that Lucca’s maestro made his debut in the festival. It was an ultra-revisionist “Tosca”: two primissime donne on the stage, several videoclips, and many other bold choices. It was glorious and thought-provoking. Therefore, expectations for a “Madama {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Lyric Opera of Chicago 2023-24 Review: Aida

https://operawire.com/lyric-opera-of-chicago-2024-review-aida/

Though the most iconic grand opera in the art form’s canon, Verdi’s “Aïda” shouldn’t challenge a house of Lyric’s caliber too strenuously. The work requires four good-to-great singers, but we expect a top-five American opera house to arrange them. Though “Aïda” lends itself to maximalist stagings, smaller companies pare it down successfully by foregoing equestrian participants, or downshifting parades to {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Lyric Opera of Chicago 2023-24 Review: Terence Blanchard’s ‘Champion’

https://operawire.com/lyric-opera-of-chicago-review-terence-blanchards-champion/

(Photo: Michael Brosilow) Fresh from a Metropolitan Opera premiere last spring (and its subsequent Grammy Award victory), Terence Blanchard’s first opera in jazz, “Champion,” enjoyed its Lyric Opera of Chicago premiere in James Robinson’s vivid and effective staging, a co-production on January 27th, 2024. A dazzling cast led by Justin Austin as Emile Griffith made a powerful case for repeated {…}

Special Features

Best of 2023: OperaWire’s Staff on the Best Performances of the Year

https://operawire.com/best-of-2023-operawires-staff-on-the-best-performances-of-the-year/

And we’re back. And as has become the tradition here at OperaWire, we have asked our writers to select their choices for the opera performances that truly marveled them in 2023. So without further ado, here are our writers’ picks. Enjoy! Joao Copertino This year, in my opinion, the best performance was Aix-en-Provence’s “Picture a Day Like This,” a world premiere {…}

DVD and CD Reviews, Reviews

CD Review: Pentatone’s ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’

https://operawire.com/cd-review-pentatones-un-ballo-in-maschera/

The forces behind the Dutch label Pentatone are deserving of every accolade for producing beautifully engineered recordings. This is especially important considering that heavy hitters like Warner and Sony only hesitatingly, and with big marketing efforts, venture into the operatic realm, knowing that its share of profitability has long become a calculated and somewhat unwanted risk. Critics will surely remember {…}