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Reviews, Stage Reviews

Innsbruck Early Music Festival 2018 Review: Gli Amore d’Apollo e Dafne

https://operawire.com/innsbruck-early-music-festival-2018-review-gli-amore-dapollo-e-dafne/

One of the highlights of the Innsbruck Early Music Festival is the “Cesti Competion,” for singers specialising in the baroque repertoire. Now in its ninth year, one of the prizes on offer for the contestants who qualify for the final round is the opportunity to sing in an opera at the following year’s festival. It is presented as “Barockoper: Jung,” {…}

News

Pittsburgh Opera To Open 80th Season With ‘Madama Butterfly’

https://operawire.com/pittsburgh-opera-to-open-season-with-madama-butterfly/

Update: The version that will be performed is the “Standard Version.” The Pittsburgh Opera is set to open its 80th season with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Per a press release, the company will perform the second of five versions Puccini wrote of the work. The version that will be performed is known as the Brescia version in honor of the Italian {…}

Opera Wiki

Artist Profile: Carlo Bergonzi, The Supreme Verdi Tenor

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-carlo-bergonzi-the-supreme-verdi-tenor/

Carlo Bergonzi was one of the leading Italian tenors of the Golden era of the 20th century. Known for his elegant phrasing, Bergonzi built up his career dominating in the repertoire of one particular composer (more on that later). Born on July 13, 1924, Bergonzi’s career actually started off as a baritone before he eventually realized that he was a {…}

Special Features

Opera America Conference 2018: No Easy Answers Regarding Race and the World of Opera

https://operawire.com/opera-america-conference-2018-no-easy-answers-regarding-race-and-the-world-of-opera/

Race and ethnicity continue to vex the opera world in the same manner as they do the rest of society. If events at last week’s Opera America Conference are indicative of the industry, it’s a topic that requires further discussion at future conferences with no easy answers in sight. There were no fewer than five panels related to race and {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

46th Istanbul Music Festival – Review: Joyce DiDonato Brings Bravura & Brilliance To The Bosphorus

https://operawire.com/46th-istanbul-music-festival-review-joyce-didonato-brings-bravura-brilliance-to-the-bosphorus/

When Dorothy arrived in Oz, she made the memorable comment “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.” Mega diva Joyce DiDonato’s first glimpse of the superb 6th century church of Aya Irini in the gardens of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul may well have elicited the same response. The operatic career of the former Joyce Flaherty from Prairie {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Palazetto Bru Zane 2018 Festival Review: Gounod Gala Is A Goldmine of Hidden Operatic Gems

https://operawire.com/palazetto-bru-zane-2018-festival-review-gounod-gala-is-a-goldmine-of-hidden-operatic-gems/

No one ever pretended that opera was a cheap art form. As an extreme example, the Salzburg Festival has a budget of over 60 million euros for just six weeks, making its balance sheet the envy of several small Pacific island states. But even in countries with an immense musical patrimony such as Italy, there is a tendency for populist {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Royal Opera House 2017-18 Review – La Bohème: Matthew Polenzani, Maria Agresta & Company Trapped In Camp Direction

https://operawire.com/royal-opera-house-2017-18-review-la-boheme-matthew-polenzani-maria-agresta-company-trapped-in-camp-direction/

The word “Bohemian” – much like the popular terms “retro,” “Goth,” or “vintage” – is yet another label that has offered countless inferences over a plethora of different times. The “Bohème” clique of Puccini, undercut by the whimsy and exuberance of Italian verismo, would contrast with a play rendition of its source, Henri Murger’s “Scènes de la Vie de Bohème.” {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Teatr Wielki Warsaw 2017-18 Review – Carmen: Rinat Shaham & Leonardo Capalbo Salvage Senseless Production By Andrzej Chyra

https://operawire.com/teatr-wielki-warsaw-2017-18-review-carmen-rinat-shaham-leonardo-capalbo-salvage-senseless-production-by-andrzej-chyra/

Sir Anthony Hopkins is a world-famous actor who also happens to be a gifted composer. Despite his considerable musical skills, he has made it quite clear that he is unqualified to direct an opera. In Poland, Andrzej Chyra enjoys A-list celebrity status as a one of the country’s foremost film and television actors. He is also probably partial to the {…}