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News

Hamburg State Opera Extends Contract with Kent Nagano

https://operawire.com/hamburg-state-opera-extends-contract-with-kent-nagano/

The Hamburg State Opera’s supervisory board has announced on Oct. 4 its decision to extend conductor Kent Nagano’s contract by five years. As the contract now stands, Nagano will serve as General Music Director until 2025, a role he began in 2015. No stranger to directing, Nagano served as General Music Director for Bayerische Staatsoper from 2006 to 2013, where he commissioned {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

La Fenice 2016-17 Review – Cefalo e Procri: Solid Production Concept & Team Revives Underdeveloped Work

https://operawire.com/la-fenice-2016-17-review-cefalo-e-procri-solid-production-concept-team-revives-underdeveloped-work/

For the final new production of the 2016-17 season, La Fenice presented Krenek’s chamber opera, “Cefalo e Procri,” consisting of a prologue and three scenes. Written in 1934, for the 3rd International Festival of Contemporary Music at the Venice Biennale and premiered at the Teatro Goldoni, to a libretto by Kuefferle, it received only a lukewarm reception and promptly disappeared {…}

News

Obituary: Brenda Lewis, Opera and Broadway Soprano, Dies at 96

https://operawire.com/obituary-brenda-lewis-opera-and-broadway-soprano-dies-at-96/

Opera and musical theatre star Brenda Lewis has passed away in her home at Westport, Connecticut on Saturday, September 16th, as confirmed by her son Michael Asen. Lewis was noted for the adaptability which allowed her to swiftly learn new roles, making her professional debut less than two years after beginning voice lessons during her years in college.  On the {…}

News

172 of World’s Greatest Singers Pick Mozart Opera As Greatest Ever

https://operawire.com/172-of-worlds-greatest-singers-pick-mozart-opera-as-greatest-ever/

What is the greatest opera of all time? Everyone has his or her own opinions but a recent poll of 172 of the world’s greatest singers has yielded a consensus – Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The poll included such stars as tenor/baritone Plácido Domingo, sopranos Kiri Te Kanawa and Renée Fleming and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, among others, and was {…}

News

Weekend Preview – International (8/25-27): Krassimira Stoyanova and Juan Diego Flórez Star in ‘Lucrezia Borgia’

https://operawire.com/weekend-preview-international-825-27-krassimira-stoyanova-and-juan-diego-florez-star-in-lucrezia-borgia/

This weekend the Salzburg Festival, the Arena di Verona, and the Edinburgh Festival  see their respective seasons come to an end. But before they end, there are still must see performances. Argentina  At the Teatro Colón, Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of The City of Mahagonny” gets its second and third performances with Iris Vermillion and Alejandra Malvino alternating the role of Leokadja. Austria  The {…}

News

Joyce DiDonato, Jonas Kaufmann & Matthias Goerne Among ECHO KLASSIK Award Winners

https://operawire.com/joyce-didonato-jonas-kaufmann-matthias-goerne-among-echo-klassik-award-winners/

The annual ECHO KLASSIK Awards have announced their 54 awards in 22 categories. This year’s coveted Female and Male singer of the year awards went to Joyce DiDonato and  Matthias Goerne. Other winners included Jonas Kaufmann, whose album “Dolce Vita” topped the charts in terms of sales and will be honored in the category of “Bestseller of the Year 2017.” {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Cracks of History – Colin Roust on Uncovering Often Ignored Composer & Opera Impresario George Auric

https://operawire.com/cracks-of-history-colin-roust-on-uncovering-often-ignored-composer-opera-impresario-george-auric/

Ever heard of Georges Auric? Unfortunately, few have. And Colin Roust, Assistant Professor in Musicology at the University of Kansas, believes that that needs to change. And he’s doing something about it, writing a full-length biography about Auric, “George Auric: A Life in Music and Politics” which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2018. Roust recently won a {…}

News

Simon Keenlyside to Get High Honor From Vienna State Opera

https://operawire.com/simon-keenlyside-to-get-high-honor-from-vienna-state-opera/

Simon Keenlyside is slated to be named a Kammersänger at the Vienna State Opera next Monday. The baritone has performed with the company throughout the past 20 years. Among the operas he has appeared in are “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” “Eugene Onegin,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “La Traviata,” “Macbeth,” “Rigoletto,” “Don Giovanni,” “La Bohème,” “Wozzeck,” “Don Carlo,” “Billy Budd,” and {…}

IndieOpera

New York Opera Fest 2017: Isola Jones to Give Masterclass as Part of Master Series With Martina Arroyo Foundation

https://operawire.com/new-york-opera-fest-2017-isola-jones-to-give-masterclass-as-part-of-master-series-with-martina-arroyo-foundation/

You’ve heard Fred Plotkin. You’ve heard Sharon Sweet. Now the Martina Arroyo Foundation and New York Opera Fest bring you mezzo-soprano Isola Jones as part of the Master Series. The masterclass is slated for June 14, 2017, starting at 7 p.m. EDT at the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College on East 68th Street. It will feature performances {…}