Wiener Staatsoper Names New Concertmaster

https://operawire.com/wiener-staatsoper-names-new-concertmaster/

(Credit: Clara Evens) The Wiener Staatsoper has named a new concertmaster. The position will be taken by 25-year-old Yamen Saadi who will assume the joint role at both the Wiener Staatsoper and Vienna Philharmonic starting during the 2022-23 season. Saadi, born in Nazareth, studied the violin at the Barenboim-Said Conservatory and then went on to study with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra {…}

News

Obituary: Romanian Mariana Nicolesco Dies at 73

https://operawire.com/obituary-romanian-mariana-nicolesco-dies-at-73/

Mariana Nicolesco has died at the age of 73. The soprano died at a hospital in Bucharest on Oct 14, 2022, and was buried on Oct. 19 in the city’s Ghencea Cemetery. Born in Găujani, Giurgiu County in Romania, Nicolesco studied violin at the Music High School in Brașov, graduating playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto. When she went to the Music {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

ABAO 2022-23 Review: I Puritani

https://operawire.com/abao-2022-23-review-i-puritani/

The ABAO 2022-23 season opened with an offering of the critical edition of Bellini’s “I Puritani” by Fabrizio della Seta. It featured Bel Canto expert Jessica Pratt and promising tenors Xavier Anduaga in the award-winning production by Emilio Sagi. Sagi’s “Puritani” has been already appeared in several theatres around the world, its last revival was at the Opera de Oviedo {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Innsbruck Early Music Festival 2022 Review: Cesti Competition

https://operawire.com/innsbruck-early-music-festival-2022-review-cesti-competition/

(Photo: Die Fotografen) The Innsbruck Early Music Festival’s Cesti Competition, now in its 13th year, continues to cement its standing as a prestige international singing competition for baroque specialists. The final, which took place in Innsbruck’s Haus der Musik in front of an enthusiastic audience, consisted of 10 singers from six countries, comprising two countertenors, five sopranos, two tenors and {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

The Whitney Biennial 2022 Review: Raven Chacon’s ‘For Zitkála-Šá’

https://operawire.com/the-whitney-biennial-2022-review-raven-chacons-for-zitkala-sa/

Raven Chacon, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, performer, and installation artist from Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation, composed a series of 13 scores as portraits dedicated to different contemporary American Indian, First Nations, or Mestiza women working in music performance, composition, or sound art. Currently on view in the 2022 Whitney Biennial, this work creates space for better understanding the Yankton Dakota {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Composer Zaid Jabri on the Process of Composing ‘Southern Crossings’

https://operawire.com/q-a-composer-zaid-jabri-on-the-process-of-composing-southern-crossings/

On June 16 and 18, 2022, audiences in New York City will get the opportunity to witness the world premiere of “Southern Crossings.” The work, set to a libretto by Yvette Christiansë and Rosalind Morris, centers on the story of the meeting between famed astronomer John Hershel and Charles Darwin and how different characters experienced and hoped that that meeting {…}

News

Rafael Villalobos Comments on ‘Tosca’ Controversy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu

https://operawire.com/rafael-villalobos-comments-on-tosca-controversy-at-the-gran-teatre-del-liceu/

(Credit: La Monnaie) Director Rafael Villalobos is speaking out against the controversy over the cast change for the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s upcoming production of “Tosca.” In a statement posted on his website the director said, “Despite insistent media requests over the past few days, I have never believed I should have to make a statement regarding the controversy surrounding {…}

DVD and CD Releases, News

Jakub Józef Orliński, Franziska Heinzen, Sonya Yoncheva & Florian Boesch Lead CD/DVD Releases

https://operawire.com/jakub-jozef-orlinski-franziska-heinzen-sonya-yoncheva-florian-boesch-lead-cd-dvd-releases/

This week audiences around the world will get a chance to discover rarely performed works, contemporary works, and some of the great performers of their generation. Here is a look at the new releases of the week. Vivaldi: Stabat Mater In a dual release for Easter 2022, countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, with the instrumentalists of Capella Cracoviensis and conductor Jan {…}

News

Ekaterina Semenchuk Replaces Ewa Płonka in Teatro alla Scala’s ‘Macbeth’

https://operawire.com/ekaterina-semenchuk-replaces-ewa-plonka-in-teatro-alla-scalas-macbeth/

(Credit: Alexey Kostromin) Polish soprano Ewa Płonka has withdrawn as the cover for Anna Netrebko’s Lady Macbeth at the Teatro alla Scala’s season opener. Płonka will also not sing the final performance in Verdi’s operatic masterpiece on Dec. 29, 2021. “Friends, due to personal reasons I will not be taking part in Macbeth production this December in La Scala but {…}

395 search results for…

Wiener Staatsoper Names New Concertmaster

Obituary: Romanian Mariana Nicolesco Dies at 73

ABAO 2022-23 Review: I Puritani

Innsbruck Early Music Festival 2022 Review: Cesti Competition

The Whitney Biennial 2022 Review: Raven Chacon’s ‘For Zitkála-Šá’

Q & A: Composer Zaid Jabri on the Process of Composing ‘Southern Crossings’

Rafael Villalobos Comments on ‘Tosca’ Controversy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Jakub Józef Orliński, Franziska Heinzen, Sonya Yoncheva & Florian Boesch Lead CD/DVD Releases

Ekaterina Semenchuk Replaces Ewa Płonka in Teatro alla Scala’s ‘Macbeth’