CD Review: Philippe Boesmans’ ‘On purge bébé!’

https://operawire.com/cd-review-philippe-boesmans-on-purge-bebe/

“This could be my last opera,” predicted Philippe Boesmans in February of last year, just two months before his death at 85. “I’ve done tragedies…so I decided that I have to finish with total lightness, total insouciance.” Virtually unknown in the U.S., the Belgian composer garnered European success with exquisite settings of serious drama: Schnitzler’s “Reigen“ (1993), Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale” {…}

News

Obituary: Mezzo-Soprano Jacqueline Dark Dies at 55

https://operawire.com/obituary-mezzo-soprano-jacqueline-dark-dies-at-55/

On Oct. 3, 2023, Australian operatic mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Dark died at the age of 55. The mezzo-soprano passed away in a Sydney hospital and the news comes a year after she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and had previously undergone surgery and chemotherapy. Dark was born in Ballarat and completed a physics degree. She went on to {…}

Interviews

Q & A: Pietari Inkinen on Conducting ‘The Ring Cycle’ at Bayreuth Festival

https://operawire.com/q-a-pietari-inkinen-on-conducting-the-ring-cycle-at-bayreuth-festival/

After waiting for three years to conduct the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival, Pietari Inkinen finally made it come true. Over the past month, the Finnish Conductor has been in Bayreuth performing the Ring Cycle in Valentin Schwarz’s production. It marks his return to the festival after his debut in 2021. It also marks his return to the Ring {…}

News

Daniela Köhler and AJ Glueckert to Lead Oper Köln’s Season Opening Premiere of ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’

https://operawire.com/daniela-kohler-and-aj-gluecart-to-lead-oper-kolns-season-opening-premiere-of-die-frau-ohne-schatten/

On Sept. 17, Oper Köln will kick off its 2023-24 season with the premiere of R. Strauss and Von Hoffmansthal’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow).” Considered exceptionally demanding, and requiring a massive orchestra, the opera is a fairy tale that Strauss believed was his most important work. The story relates the tale of an ethereal Empress {…}

Opera Meets Film, Special Features

Opera Meets Film: The Cost of Harmony in Erick Oh’s Animated Short Film ‘Opera’

https://operawire.com/opera-meets-film-the-cost-of-harmony-in-erick-ohs-animated-short-film-opera/

Does a film titled “Opera” have to be about opera? Moreover, does it even have to use operatic music? Have we come so far as to distinguish between opera and Opera, and is there a difference between being ‘opera’ and ‘operatic?’ While the answer does not exist per se, animator Erick Oh’s short film entitled “Opera”—a Marxian look at the {…}

News

Obituary: German Soprano Gabriele Schnaut Dies at 72

https://operawire.com/obituary-german-soprano-gabriele-schnaut-dies-at-72/

(Photo Credit: Kirchbach) Famed German soprano Gabriele Schnaut passed away on June 19, 2023. She was 72. Born in Mannheim on Feb. 24, 1951, Schnaut commenced her musical journey as a violinist and singer. She studied at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory in Mainz, majoring in violin, while also studying musicology. However, in 1971, she studied singing at the Frankfurt University {…}

News

Benjamin Appl, Miah Persson, Dame Sarah Connolly, Roderick Williams, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha Headline Oxford International Song Festival 2023

https://operawire.com/benjamin-appl-miah-persson-dame-sarah-connolly-roderick-williams-masabane-cecilia-rangwanasha-headline-oxford-international-song-festival-2023/

The Oxford International Song Festival has unveiled the schedule for its 2023 season. Kicking off the festival will be “Quiet Music: A Draw-Along,” featuring mezzo-soprano Bethany Horak-Hallet, pianist Natalie Burch, and Julia Thaxton. The program includes works by Schubert, Clara Schumann, and Hildegard von Bingen, among others. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2023 Soprano Soraya Mafi will be joined by such {…}

News

Eleonora Buratto, Javier Camarena & Francesco Meli Lead Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 Season

https://operawire.com/eleonora-buratto-javier-camarena-francesco-meli-lead-palau-de-les-arts-2023-24-season/

Valencia’s Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 season featuring opera, recitals, concerts, and zarzuela. Opera Dima Orsho and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto star in “Women at Point Zero.” Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2023 James Gaffigan conducts Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” in Richard Jones’ production. The cast includes Arsen Soghomonyan, Doris Soffel, Ekaterina Guseva, Elena Maximova, Roman Burdenko, and Nikolay Zemlianskikh. Performance {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Opera House 2022-23 Review: Wozzeck

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-house-2022-23-review-wozzeck/

Photo: Tristram Kenton Expectations were high for Deborah Warner’s new production of Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” at the Royal Opera House. Warner’s acclaimed treatment of “Peter Grimes” saw her in similar territory—indeed, the debt owed to Berg’s score by Britten is considerable—in a pair of twentieth-century operas about alienated outsiders, disturbed by the very society that despises them. Both pieces are {…}

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CD Review: Philippe Boesmans’ ‘On purge bébé!’

Obituary: Mezzo-Soprano Jacqueline Dark Dies at 55

Q & A: Pietari Inkinen on Conducting ‘The Ring Cycle’ at Bayreuth Festival

Daniela Köhler and AJ Glueckert to Lead Oper Köln’s Season Opening Premiere of ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’

Opera Meets Film: The Cost of Harmony in Erick Oh’s Animated Short Film ‘Opera’

Obituary: German Soprano Gabriele Schnaut Dies at 72

Benjamin Appl, Miah Persson, Dame Sarah Connolly, Roderick Williams, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha Headline Oxford International Song Festival 2023

Eleonora Buratto, Javier Camarena & Francesco Meli Lead Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 Season

Royal Opera House 2022-23 Review: Wozzeck