Sabine Devieilhe, Alex Penda & Simon O’Neill Lead Opera De Massy’s 2019-20 Season

https://operawire.com/sabine-devieilhe-alex-penda-simon-oneill-lead-opera-de-massys-2019-20-season/

The Opera de Massy has announced its 2019-20 season featuring seven opera productions and a number of high profile recitals and concerts. Here is a look at what to expect. Opera Andre Heyboer and Alex Penda headline Verdi’s “Macbeth” with Dario Russo and Luciano Acocella conducting the production by Jean-Louis Martinoty. Performance Dates: Nov. 8 & 10, 2019 Handel’s “Acis {…}

Opera Wiki

Artist Profile: Simon Estes, Legendary Bass-Baritone

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-simon-estes-legendary-bass-baritone/

Simon Estes, born on March 2, 1938, is a legendary bass-baritone. Born in Iowa, his father was a coal miner and his grandfather was a former slave. His early musical experiences were at the local Baptist church that his family attended. He entered the University of Iowa and was destined to study psychology and religion but ultimately switched to voice. {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Opéra National de Paris 2018–19 Review: Simon Boccanegra

https://operawire.com/opera-national-de-paris-2018-19-review-simon-boccanegra/

During its 350th anniversary season, the Opéra National de Paris presented a new production of one of the most difficult and controversial Verdi’s operas, “Simon Boccanegra.” With a solid cast and no boundaries of interpretation, Calixto Bieito decided to tell a recklessly modernized story, with characters seemed prohibited from interacting with one another and simply had to ignore each other {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Waldebuehne 2018 Review: Magdalena Kozena Dazzles Alongside Sir Simon Rattle & Berlin Philharmonic

https://operawire.com/waldebuehne-2018-review-magdalena-kozena-dazzles-alongside-sir-simon-rattle-berlin-philharmonic/

Sir Simon Rattle is retiring from the Berlin Philharmonic. Saturday night at the Waldbuehne, Berlin, was one of the farewell concerts. This one included his wife as guest artist – the superb mezzo-soprano, Magdalena Kozena. Despite the rain that drizzled on the 20,000+ people armed with blankets and ponchos, and its proximity to the concrete tower left over from the {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: ‘Being Wagner’ Author Simon Callow On Discovering the German Master Anew

https://operawire.com/q-a-being-wagner-author-simon-callow-on-discovering-the-german-master-anew/

Next to William Shakespeare, Richard Wagner is one of the most written about figures in human history. His enigmatic qualities coupled with his unquestionable genius make him someone who fascinates as much as he bewilders and antagonizes. Volumes have been written about the composer from virtually every conceivable angle, whether it be his family, his adventures, his psychology, his philosophy, {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

New York Philharmonic 2017-18 Review – Die Walküre: Jaap van Zweden & Soloists Deliver Sublime Rendition of Act One of Wagner Masterwork

https://operawire.com/new-york-philharmonic-2017-18-review-die-walkure-jaap-van-zweden-soloists-deliver-sublime-rendition-of-act-one-of-wagner-masterwork/

In 2018-19, Jaap van Zweden, the current Music Director Designate of the New York Philharmonic, will drop the Designate part of that label. And if the concert on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 is any indication, he is going to be providing audiences with some dazzling music for years to come. In a series of concerts that kicked off on Valentine’s {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Cal Performances 2017 Review – Simon O’Neill Gives the Intimate & the Epic In Fine Evening

https://operawire.com/cal-performances-2017-review-simon-oneill-gives-the-intimate-the-epic-in-fine-evening/

From high up in the mountains; from a knoll, within a cave; from a curlicue within the cave, behind a rock; within two back to back rocks, down under the ground about two feet; behind a shelf of rock, jutting out from inside a dome of the oldest rocks in that cave and ancient concavities; comes this voice, round, round {…}

On This Day, Special Features

The Sea As The Central Element in Verdi’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’

https://operawire.com/the-sea-as-the-central-element-in-verdis-simon-boccanegra/

“Simon Boccanegra” was one of Verdi’s most sublime operas and a prized creation for the composer. After suffering a brutal premiere back on March 12, 1857, the work was essentially left for dead, likely to never get a chance to firmly establish its place alongside many of Verdi’s other masterworks. But on March 24, 1881, the composer premiered another version {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Arena di Verona 2026 Review: Aida

https://operawire.com/arena-di-verona-2026-review-aida/

(Credit: Arena di Verona) Oddly enough, the Arena di Verona was offering two different productions of “Aida” this summer: Franco Zeffirelli’s and Stefano Poda’s. Judging from Poda’s staging of “Nabucco” the previous evening, I was glad to have found myself at Zeffirelli’s classic production, which I had first seen in 2018. True, Zeffirelli had positively buried Verdi’s opera beneath gold. Yet, {…}

434 search results for…

Sabine Devieilhe, Alex Penda & Simon O’Neill Lead Opera De Massy’s 2019-20 Season

Artist Profile: Simon Estes, Legendary Bass-Baritone

Opéra National de Paris 2018–19 Review: Simon Boccanegra

Waldebuehne 2018 Review: Magdalena Kozena Dazzles Alongside Sir Simon Rattle & Berlin Philharmonic

Q & A: ‘Being Wagner’ Author Simon Callow On Discovering the German Master Anew

New York Philharmonic 2017-18 Review – Die Walküre: Jaap van Zweden & Soloists Deliver Sublime Rendition of Act One of Wagner Masterwork

Cal Performances 2017 Review – Simon O’Neill Gives the Intimate & the Epic In Fine Evening

The Sea As The Central Element in Verdi’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’

Arena di Verona 2026 Review: Aida