(Photo Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) Every year, the Met Opera ushers in the holidays with its abridged, English-language production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” delighting children and adults alike. This season was no exception. If anything, the 90-minute performance offered a welcome reprieve from a world that seems to have lost its bearings—and, oddly, slid back toward the {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s annual holiday presentation of Julie Taymor’s English-language adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” returns for 15 performances. The opera will be performed between Dec. 11 and Jan. 3, and will be conducted by Steven White, and Erin Yashima. The work will star Rainelle Krause, Zhengyi Bai, Aigul Khismatullina, Erin Morley, Joshua {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Riccardo Frizza conducting Cherubini’s “Medea” in a production by Mario Martone. Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role alongside Francesco Meli, Giorgi Manoshvili, Désirée Giove, and Anita Rachvelishvili. Performance Dates: Dec. 3-16, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Maria Agresta, Désirée Giove, Francesco Demuro, and Mimmo Borrelli star in Ennio {…}
The Santa Fe Opera has announced its 2026 season. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will open the season with a revival production directed by Melanie Bacaling. The cast will include Karen Chia-ling Ho, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Burton, Jarrett Ott, and Sun-Ly Pierce. John Fiore conducts. Performance Dates: July 3-29, 2026 Harry Bicket conducts Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in a production by Christopher Luscombe. Josh Lovell, Joélle Harvey, Rainelle {…}
The Royal Danish Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Daniele Squeo and Lukas Beikircher conduct Puccini’s “Tosca” with Francesca Tiburzi and Marigona Qerkezi sharing the title role. Matteo Lippi, Carlos Cardoso, Johan Reuter, and Daniel Luis de Vicente also star. Kasper Holten directs. Performance Dates: August 31, 2025-Jan. 24 2026 Evan Rogister conducts George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin” in a stage production by Katie Mitchell. Daniel {…}
The Atlanta Opera continues its 2024-25 season with Wagner’s “Siegfried.” Tomer Zvulun will direct the new production, which will be presented between April 26 and May 4, 2025, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. The cast includes Stefan Vinke as Siegfried, Greer Grimsley as the Wanderer, and Lise Lindstrom as Brünnhilde. The cast is rounded out by Rodell Rosel as Mime, Zachary Nelson {…}
NHK Classic is set to broadcast “La Gioconda” on Oct. 28, 2024 from the Teatro San Carlo. The Japanese broadcasting company announced the news via social media. The recording which was made in April 2024 stars Anna Netrebko in the title role, Jonas Kaufmann as Enzo, Eve-Maud Hubeaux as Laura, Ludovic Tézier as Barnaba, Ksenia Nikolaeva as La Cieca, and {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to open its 2024-25 season with Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The famed Verdi opera will be revived in Damiano Michieletto’s production, which opened in 2017. When the production opened critics were mixed and said, “the production is overanalytical and is ultimately sabotaged by its own cleverness.” In 2021, the staging was shown in Venice at the {…}
Editor’s note: The initial review is for the performance on April 10, 2024 and was written by Francisco Salazar. The addendum is for the performance on April 13, 2024 and was written by David Salazar, who attended both performances. It’s been 47 years since Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda” has been shown at the Teatro San Carlo. Considered one of the most {…}