Photo: © Monika Rittershaus “Così Fan Tutte” has become the most uncomfortable of the three Mozart-Da Ponte operas. “Le Nozze di Figaro” has secured itself as a revolutionary and anti-establishment opera. “Don Giovanni” is unavoidable and unforgettable. “Così,” on the other hand, struggled to find its public for most of the nineteenth century. Its plot is often seen as both {…}
Photo: © Jean-Louis Fernandez When a ticket to “The Threepenny Opera” costs three hundred euros, it is already evident that someone has not read Brecht properly. Thomas Ostemeier, the director of this Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill “opera,” is an interesting figure. German by birth, he has been very popular in Paris for his work with the traditional company Comédie {…}
(Photo credit: Festival d’Aix-en-Provence © Vincent Beaume) In an arbored patio, Pretty Yende, ethereally sings the final terzett of the last Petrarch sonnet by Liszt, “ed era il cielo a l’armonia sí intento,” “che non se vedea in ramo mover foglia,” “tanta dolcezza avea pien l’aere e ’l vento.” (“and heaven so intent upon the harmony, no leaf was seen {…}
The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence has announced its 70th anniversary season. This season the company will present six full-scale opera productions with a number of international artists from July 4 to July 24, 2018. Among those productions are two new world premieres. The first “Orfeo & Majnun,” which opens on June 24. The opera will be sung in English, French, and Arabic by {…}
“The Rake’s Progress,” an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky, was one of the six operas performed at this year’s Festival International d’art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence. Although relatively modern, compared to the classical opera repertoire (it premiered on 11 April 1951), Simon McBurney’s visually striking and infinitely creative staging gives it an additional innovative edge. English actor, {…}
Ten years ago Michael Fabiano announced himself as one of the most promising tenors of his generation. The tenor was competing for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was also part of the class that was filmed in the movie “The Audition.” His strength and intensity and his strong stage presence made him a sensation with the judges and {…}
Daniel Harding has canceled his upcoming engagements as conductor for Festival Aix-En-Provence’s upcoming production of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress.” The conductor was slated to conduct five performances between July 5 and 18, 2017. As a result, Eivind Gullberg Jensen will take over. The Norwegian conductor recently conducted the Finnish National Opera in concert as well as a new production of {…}
The Aix-en-Provence festival has announced the schedule for 2017, which will feature one new production after another with many of opera’s greatest singers. Pinocchio – July 3-16 The festival will kick off with the World Premiere of Phillippe Boesmans’ “Pinocchio” on July 3, 2017. The opera will feature Chloé Briot in the title role with Stéphane Degout as the troupe {…}