(Photo ©2024 Camilla Greenwell) In a recent interview with director Damiano Michieletto at the Venice production of “The Tales of Hoffmann,” he said: “At its heart it is a journey into fantasy. It is opera fantastique, after all!” One definition of the French word fantastique is: a term for a literary and cinematic genre and mode that is characterized by {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Myung-Whun Chung conducts Verdi’s “Otello” in a new production by Fabio Ceresa. Francesco Meli sings the title role in a cast that also stars Francesca Dotto and Luca Micheletti. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 1, 2024 Marina Monzò, Francesco Demuro, and Nicola Alaimo star in Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Diego Matheuz conducts. Performance {…}
(Photo credit: Michele Crosera) Having seen more versions of “Don Giovanni” than there are sands on the beach, I can attest that the greatness of the opera is seldom undermined by a less than optimum staging. However, when the staging is good—or even great—, one feels that there is no better opera than “Don Giovanni.” The revival of Damiano Michieletto’s {…}
The Royal Opera House has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the season. Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” will open the season with a cast that includes Luca Micheletti, Ying Fang, Huw Montague Rendall, Jacquelyn Stucker, and Ginger Costa-Jackson. Performance Dates: Sept. 2-15, 2024 Verdi’s “La Traviata” will feature two casts. The first cast will be headlined {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get a taste of rare works by French and Italian composers. Here is a look at this week’s new releases. Kozłowski Requiem The Singapore Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, {…}
After leaving the premiere of La Fenice’s production of “Mefistofele,” I dried two little tears from my eyes and, in a burst of emotion, was possessed by one thought: how underrated Boito is. Usually relegated merely to the place of the fanciest of Verdi’s librettists, Boito was much more. His works extend from a few musical pieces to many (untranslated {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Nicola Luisotti and Andrés Salado conduct Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” in David McVicar’s production. The production will star Ermonela Jaho, Maria Agresta, Brian Jagde, Matthew Polenzani, Elīna Garanča, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Nicola Alaimo, and Manel Esteve. Performance Dates: Sept. 23-Oct. 11, 2024 Charpentier’s “David et Jonathas” will be performed in concert with Petr Nekoranec, Gwendoline Blondeel, Jean-Christophe {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Verdi’s “Falstaff” opens the season with a cast that includes Ambrogio Maestri, Olivia Boen, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Andrei Kymach, Gregory Bonfatti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and Federica Guida. Michael Schønwandt conducts the production by Dominique Pitoiset. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-30, 2024 Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will star Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude {…}
Verdi’s “I Vespri Siciliani” was last on the stage in Naples back in 2011, featuring the original French version created by the composer for the Opera de Paris in 1855. This year, however, Teatro San Carlo is showcasing the Italian rendition, which is more commonly performed in Italy, without the ballet sequences. The narrative, crafted by Eugene Scribe’s libretto, revolves {…}
And we’re back for this week’s edition of the major CD and DVD releases on offer. Those looking for legendary performances will be thrilled by some of this week’s releases. But there are also two solo albums of great interest. Let’s check it out. Mahler Pioneers SOMM RECORDINGS announces “Mahler Pioneers,” a major addition to the Mahler catalog with the {…}
On April 13, 2023, the Metropolitan Opera opened its April run of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.” Bartlett Sher’s 2012 production was met with new life thanks to a number of stunning debuts from the cast. The staging itself presents a view of Italy during unification which neither rebukes nor flatters the historical context of the work, leaving an authentic, if understated, {…}