The Cincinnati May Festival announces the programming for the 2026 May Festival under this year’s Festival Director, Julia Bullock. Julia Bullock, Jason Alexander Holmes, and the May Festival Chorus give the opening concert. They are joined by Carlos Simon on the Hammond Organ and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The evening includes a new work co-curated by Bullock and chorus director {…}
Many who visit OperaWire regularly have their various interests in what one might call, operatic “rarities”–works that have achieved, to an extent, legendary status despite being seldom staged. As an avid lover of Hector Berlioz’s archetypal romantic career, I devoured both the Barzun and Cairns biographies of the composer more than once. And such a rarity mentioned was Spontini’s “La {…}
Glyndebourne Festival has announced its 2026 season. New Productions Puccini’s “Tosca” will be directed by Ted Huffman with two casts. Robin Ticciati conducts the first run with a cast that includes Caitlin Gotimer as Floria Tosca, Matteo Lippi as Mario Cavaradossi, and Vladislav Sulimsky as Baron Scarpia. Jordan de Souza conducts the second cast that includes Natalya Romaniw as Floria {…}
(Credit: David Ruano / Liceu Opera Barcelona) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present John Adams’s most recent opera, “Antony and Cleopatra.” The work will have its company premiere on May 12 and will mark the final new production of the 2024–25 season. This will be the fifth opera by John Adams presented by the Met, a distinction last achieved {…}
The Florentine Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Kate Johnson, Grace Ryan, Zach Taylor, and William Dopp lead “Scalia/Ginsberg.” Bob Mollicone conducts. Performance Dates: July 18-20, 2025 Justin Austin and Michael Banwarth perform an evening “Al Fresco.” Performance Date: August 5, 2025 Aurelia Andrews, Jamila Drecker-Waxman, Lauryn Nelson, Zach Taylor, David Drettwan, and Daniel Weber will perform An Aria Extravaganza. {…}
(Credit: Peter Aaron ’68/Esto) The Fisher Center at Bard has announced the SummerScape 2025 which will be held between June 27 – August 17, 2025. Here is a look at the operatic and vocal performances for the season. Opera Smetana’s “Dalibor” will be performed in a new production by Jean-Romain Vesperini. The American Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Leon Botstein and {…}
(Photo credit: Suzanne Vinnik) Palm Beach Opera has announced its 2025 season. The season opens with Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette,” under the baton of Palm Beach Opera’s Ari Rifkin Music Director, David Stern. The title roles will be shared across performances. Friday/Sunday Long Long performs Romé alongside Amina Edris as Juliette. Eric Taylor and Lydia Grindatto will each make their {…}
(Photo by Matt Dine) There was a time that I would have unashamedly described myself an avid Berliozian. Which means, to me, that I not only loved Berlioz’s music but also the classic ‘romantic’ ideal his life represented. Besides his epitomizing the dramatic life of the Romantic period artist, Berlioz clearly blazed a path with innovative forms of music that {…}
The Irish National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. The company will open with a double bill featuring “Mary Motorhead” and “Trade.” Naomi Louisa O’Connell, Oisin O’Dalaigh, and John Molloy star in the production. Elaine Kelly conducts and Tom Creed directs. Performance Date: August 8–Oct. 23, 2024 Paula Murrihy and David Portillo lead Berlioz’s “Béatrice and Bénédict,” alongside Anna Devin, {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present Puccini’s “La Rondine” in Live in HD. The opera will be transmitted live on April 20, at 12:55 p.m. ET and will star soprano Angel Blue as Magda and tenor Jonathan Tetelman as Ruggero. They will be joined by soprano Emily Pogorelc and tenor Bekhzod Davronov as well as {…}
It’s been 10 years since Puccini’s “La Rondine” has been performed at the Metropolitan Opera. The work is a light Puccini opera that is sometimes compared to an operetta and has been performed a total of 34 times at the famed house. In the past, it has often been brought to the company at the behest of a Diva who {…}