(Photos: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s “La Bohème” celebrated a new season of success thanks to Kensho Watanabe at the podium and a stunning cast of favorites, including Ailyn Pérez, Dmytro Popov, Boris Pinkhasovich, Bogdan Talos, Emily Pogorelc, Gihoon Kim, and Donald Maxwell. Conductor Kensho Watanabe’s Midas Touch Conductor Kensho Watanabe, who made his Met debut with {…}
The Grammy nominations have been announced. For this article, we will focus on the vocal and operatic nominations. The Best Opera Recording nominees are “Adams: Girls Of The Golden West” featuring John Adams, Paul Appleby, Julia Bullock, Hye Jung Lee, Daniela Mack, Elliot Madore, Ryan McKinny, and Davóne Tines, Dmitriy Lipay, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Master Chorale, “Catán: Florencia {…}
“Il Trovatore” is one of Verdi’s most popular operas and it is said that to do it justice, all you need are the four greatest voices in the world. The opera certainly packs a punch for all four soloists as it requires agility, legato, and expressiveness throughout their respective ranges. Its story is also known for being “incomprehensible” and hard {…}
On July 21, 2024, the Teatro Real de Madrid is set to stream Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” on My Opera Player. The opera will be shown in a production by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Ailyn Pérez will star in the title role alongside Charles Castronovo as Pinkerton. Lucas Meachem will sing the role of Sharpless and Nino Surguladze will {…}
(Credit: Soloman Howard) Soprano Ailyn Pérez has joined Askonas Holt’s roster for worldwide general management. Pérez will be managed at Askonas Holt by Joel Thomas. In a statement, the soprano said, “I am truly happy to reconnect with Joel Thomas and the team at Askonas Holt for worldwide management, and to collaborate with them on the next part of my {…}
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Luca Salsi and Anna Netrebko team up for Verdi’s “Nabucco.” Ivan Magrì, Marina Prudenskaya, and René Pape join them. Anastasia Bartoli also performs. Bertrand de Billy conducts the new production by Emma Dante. Performance Dates: Oct. 2-26, 2024 Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” receives a new production featuring multiple casts. {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Verdi’s “Il Trovatore“ starring Michael Spyres, Ailyn Perez, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Lucas Meachem, and Morris Robinson. Patrick Summers conducts the production by Stephen Wadsworth. Performance Dates: Oct. 18-Nov. 3, 2024 Isabel Leonard leads Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” with Jack Swanson, Alessandro Corbelli, Iurii Samoilov, and Cory McGee. Lorenzo Passerini {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Tobias Krazter directs a new production of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” with Nicholas Brownlee, Milan Siljanov, Sean Panikkar, Markus Brück, Matthias Klink, Matthew Rose, Timo Riihonen, Ekaterina Gubanova, Mirjam Mesak, and Wiebke Lehmkuhl. Vladimir Jurowski conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 27, 2024-July 31, 2025 Damiano Michieletto directs Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment” with {…}
The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the productions. Verdi’s “Rigoletto” is set to star Igor Golovatenko, Soloman Howard, Javier Camarena, and Mané Galoyan. Enrique Mazzola conducts the production by Director Mary Birnbaum. Performance Dates: Sept. 14-Oct. 6 2024 Elza van den Heever, Russell Thomas, Mika Kares, and Brian Mulligan star in {…}
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the vocal performances. Jader Bignamini conducts Bizet’s “Carmen” with J’Nai Bridges, Russell Thomas, Ailyn Pérez, and Paulo Szot. Performance Dates: Feb. 21 & 23, 2025 Enrico Lopez-Yañez conducts Ben Folds who performs on piano and vocals. Performance Date: May 23 & 24, 2025 The season will also include soloists Bertrand {…}
The Washington Concert Opera has announced its 2023-24 season. The company will present two rarely performed works from the Italian repertoire. Rossini’s “Ermione” is set to star Angela Meade, Lawrence Brownlee, David Portillo, and Ginger Costa-Jackson. Performance Date: Dec. 2, 2023 Ailyn Pérez, Mario Chang, Jonathan Johnson, Deanna Breiwick, Javier Arrey, Tess Ottinger, Natalie Conte, and Melanie Ashkar star in {…}