(Credit: KarenAlmond/Metropolitan Opera) A “shabby little shocker.” That’s how musicologist Joseph Kerman described Puccini’s “Tosca.” Shabby? No. A little shocker? No. It’s a big shocker. Perhaps we’ve become inured to how dark and violent “Tosca” is with scenes of rape, murder, torture, and suicide. There was no mistaking the grittiness of Puccini’s fast-paced thriller at the Metropolitan Opera. The October {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Puccini’s “Tosca” for 15 performances. The production by Sir. David McVicar, which is set to open on Oct. 5 and run through April 15, 2023, will star Aleksandra Kurzak in the first run of performances alongside Michael Fabiano and Roberto Alagna. They will be joined by John Lundgren in {…}
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced its 2022-23 Season. Emma Dante conducts Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmelites” with Michele Mariotti conducting. Corinne Winters stars alongside Anna Caterina Antonacci, Ewa Vesin, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Jean-François Lapointe. The opera will be transmitted live on Rai Cultura and Rai5. Performance Dates: Nov. 27-Dec. 6, 2022 Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” will be conducted by Francesco {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced a cast change for its production of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” The company noted that Aleksandra Kurzak will no longer sing the role of Rosina and will be replaced by Jessica Pratt. The change comes as Kurzak is at the Royal Opera House replacing Anita Rachvelishvili and Ermonela Jaho in productions of “Cavalleria Rusticana” {…}
The Royal Opera has announced a cast change for its production of “Cavalleria Rusticana.” The company noted that Aleksandra Kurzak will replace Anita Rachvelishvili in the role of Santuzza. Kurzak has performed the role of Santuzza at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and the Arena di Verona. The soprano made her Royal Opera debut in 2005 as Aspasia in “Mitridate, re {…}
The Polish National Opera has announced its 2022-23 season featuring six new productions and 15 revivals in opera and ballet. Here is a look at the opera productions. New Productions The company will present “Chorus Opera” with Rafał Bartmiński, Anna Terlecka-Kierner, and Dagmara Sokalska as the soloists. The production will feature music by Bizet, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Moniuszko, Orff, Penderecki, Puccini, {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu is responding to the controversy following Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak’s withdrawal from a Tosca production by Rafael R. Villalobos. According to ABC.es, the theater has been silent on the matter to respect the artist’s decisions but responded to questions that the Spanish media source sent the company. According to the media source, the Liceu {…}
Aleksandra Kurzak is opening up about her high-profile cancelation at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in a new production of “Tosca.” Following an exchange between her husband Roberto Alagna and the General Director of La Monnaie, Kurzak told the Polish Press that she had signed a contract for Puccini’s “Tosca” not “Pisellini di Pasolini.” As Alagna stated in his interview {…}
(Credit: Evan Zimmerman) Met audiences love “La Bohème.” The company has staged the opera 1,356 times over the past 122 years and has presented the Zeffirelli production for the last 40. The years-long affair with Puccini’s story of Parisian bohemians centers on one of the most potent motivating forces in our lives: love, and we like to see romance play {…}
(Credit: Marco Borggreve) The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced the 2022-3 season. Here is a look at the vocal highlights. Andris Nelsons conducts Janine Jansen and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in works by Bernstein, Shostakovich, and Ogonek. Performance Dates: Oct. 6-8, 2022 Andris Nelsons conducts Act three of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” starring Amber Wagner, Klaus Florian Vogt, and Christian Gerhaher. Performance {…}
The Berlin State Opera has announced its 2022-23 season featuring a new Ring Cycle. The Ring Cycle Daniel Barenboim conducts a new production of Wagner’s epic The Ring Cycle by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” is set to star Michael Volle, Lauri Vasar, Siyabonga Maqungo, Rolando Villazón, Claudia Mahnke, Anett Fritsch, Anna Kissjudit, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Stephan Rügamer, Mika Kares, {…}