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Artur Ruciński To Replace George Petean In Chicago’s “Il Trovatore’

https://operawire.com/artur-rucinski-to-replace-george-petean-in-chicagos-il-trovatore/

George Petean has canceled his upcoming performances of “Il Trovatore” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The company announced that due to illness Petean would not be able to perform the role of Conte di Luna. As a result, Polish baritone Artur Ruciński, who will be making his Lyric debut, will replace Petean. Ruciński recently canceled performances at the San Francisco Opera {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

53rd Wratislavia Cantans Festival Wrocław Poland Review: Król Roger

https://operawire.com/53rd-wratislavia-cantans-festival-wroclaw-poland-review-krol-roger/

For many opera lovers appalled by the excesses of regie theater, concert performances are an appealing alternative. Singers standing in sackcloth and rags are infinitely preferable to Hans Neuenfels’ whisker-twitching “Lohengrin” rats or Claus Guth rocketing Rodolfo into outer-space in a South Park Kenny space suit. The problem is that as Richard Strauss and Clemens Krauss wittily explained in “Capriccio,” opera has {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Salzburg Festival 2018 Review: The Bassarids

https://operawire.com/salzburg-festival-2018-review-the-bassarids/

Hans Werner Henze’s opera “The Bassarids” received its first performance at the Salzburg Festival on August 6, 1966. At the premiere, Christoph von Dohnanyi conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. English-American poet W.H. Auden and his partner Chester Kallman wrote the libretto based on Euripides’ “Bacchae,” one of the last tragedies of the great Greek dramatist. Within weeks, the opera was {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

The Crypt Sessions 2018 Review – Lawrence Brownlee

https://operawire.com/the-crypt-sessions-review-lawrence-brownlee-wakes-the-dead-with-classics-and-spirituals/

Now in its third season, “The Crypt Sessions,” continues to bring world-class talent to Harlem’s Church of the Intercession for a night of music produced by Unison Media. July 24’s concert saw leading operatic tenor Lawrence Brownlee, joined by pianists Myra Huang and Damien Sneed, letting loose with a variety of songs from Classical, Jazz, Gospel, and more. Brownlee began {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Conductor Damian Iorio on Taking on Mussorgsky’s Titanic Masterpiece ‘Boris Godunov’ & The Key To Connecting With Younger Audiences

https://operawire.com/q-a-conductor-damian-iorio-on-taking-on-mussorgskys-titanic-masterpiece-boris-godunov-the-key-to-connecting-with-younger-audiences/

Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” is legendary. The work is widely regarded as Russia’s greatest opera, even despite its labyrinthine history of revisions. This week, the work opens at the Opéra de Paris in a production by Ivo van Hove with Ildar Abdrazakov and Alexander Tsymbalyuk sharing the title role. Alongside them will be conductors Vladimir Jurowski and Damian Iorio. While Jurowski {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A : Mezzo-Soprano Jamie Barton On The Challenges of ‘Der Ring Des Nibelungen’ & Verdi vs. Wagner

https://operawire.com/q-a-mezzo-soprano-jamie-barton-on-the-challenges-of-der-ring-des-nibelungen-verdi-vs-wagner/

This interview was conducted in collaboration with Francisco Salazar.  Everyone knows what Jamie Barton can do. And if you don’t… The mezzo-soprano has firmly established herself over the past few years as one of the finest singing actresses on the planet, stealing scenes and garnering show-stopping applause with her incredible instrument and dramatic interpretation. She’s pulled off some historic feats {…}

Opera Wiki

Artist Profile: Contralto Ewa Podles & Her Expansive Range

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-contralto-ewa-podles-her-expansive-range/

Few singers had or have what Polish coloratura contralto Ewa Podles had – an expansive range. A three-octave range to be exact. Born on April 26, 1952 in Warsaw, Poland, Podles studied a the Warsaw Academy of Music and quickly established herself internationally at the age of 32 when she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Usedomer Musik Festival 2018 Review – Jakub Jósef Orliński Gives a Bravura Baroque Recital Minus Bboy Boomerangs

https://operawire.com/usedomer-musik-festival-2018-review-jakub-josef-orlinski-gives-a-bravura-baroque-recital-minus-bboy-boomerangs/

The remote Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern might seem a strange place for a Music Festival, but for 25 years the island of Usedom has been hosting artists of international repute. Skeptical foreign visitors expecting bleak windswept dunes with a few forlorn fishermen’s shanties shrouded in eau de poisson will be in for a big surprise. Usedom’s popularity reached its apogee during {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Oper Graz 2017-18 Review – ll Viaggio a Reims: Rossini Comedy a Sparkling Triumph Worthy of Maison Krug.

https://operawire.com/oper-graz-2017-18-review-ll-viaggio-a-reims-rossini-comedy-a-sparkling-triumph-worthy-of-maison-krug/

Gioachino Rossini was not just an enormously successful composer and gourmand extraordinaire, but also a highly astute businessman. When he eventually went to the celestial grande bouffe in 1868, he left an estate worth millions of francs. According to Sosthènes de la Rochefoucauld, Rossini composed “Il Viaggio a Reims” as “un homage complètement désintéressé,” which was 19th century French Court-speak for {…}