There will be two important CD releases this week, one from a legendary artists and a second from a historical opening night performance. Here is a look. Farinelli Cecilia Bartoli celebrates over three decades on the Decca Classics label with her latest album commemorating the life and career of the most famous opera singer of the 18th century: the castrato {…}
(Credit: Richard Hubert Smith / ENO) When it opens this Friday, “Akhnaten” will be but the third Philip Glass opera to ever open at the Metropolitan Opera. In sum there will be eight performances of the opera, bringing the total of Glass opera performances at the famed house to 34. The first opera by the Academy Award nominated composer to {…}
While the environment outside the Met Opera on opening night was rather subdued in comparison to previous years, there could be no denying the environment inside of the sold-out house. Everywhere you turned, the opera on hand was a major topic of conversation with great excitement over what it might bring. The Gershwin classic, “Porgy and Bess,” hasn’t been at {…}
The 2019-20 season is about to start with numerous new productions, revivals and world premieres. Like we did with the International houses, OperaWire has selected the 10 Must-See productions that you cannot miss this fall at the North American companies. 10. Frida – Atlanta Opera, Georgia Jorge Parodi conducts the popular work by Robert Xavier Rodriguez with Catalina Cuervo, who brings {…}
As the 2018-19 season comes to an end, the opera season continues with festivals and many companies opening new productions. With a ton of selections to choose from, we eventually whittled it down to the 10 Must-See productions, as we did internationally. Here is a look at the operas you cannot miss this summer in the U.S.. 10. Hérodiade – New Amsterdam {…}
Boston Lyric Opera has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring productions that span three centuries of opera. The upcoming season will mark General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson’s 10th season with the company. According to the press release, BLO aims to focus on works that “reflect the highs and lows of power and politics,” while “bringing passionate opera installations to new neighborhoods, and {…}
The Bard Summerscape 2019 festival has been announced. This year the festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary season and will focus on “Korngold and His World.” There will be film screenings, opera, recitals, and dance. For this article, we will only concentrate on the operatic and vocal showcases. Opera Christian Räth directs the American premiere of Korngold’s “The Miracle of Heliane” {…}
The San Francisco Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring seven new productions and two new revivals. There will also be a notable company premiere with many rising and established stars taking the stage. Main Stage The 2019–20 season opens with Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” in a new production by Jean-Louis Grinda. The opera returns after a 31-year absence with {…}
San Francisco Opera’s “Elektra” is a powerhouse! From the minute the curtain rises on the “Museum Elektra,” filled with the artifacts of the Greek age and styled with an array of modern visitors, complete with cell phones and baseball caps, one strange dark-haired woman skulking around from this case to that, defying the Guards who monitor the whole scene until {…}
The Orchestra Now has announced its fall season, which will feature a ton of vocal performances. The big one that all eyes will surely be on is the Oct. 21 and 22 showcases of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which will feature soprano Chloé Olivia Moore, mezzo Teresa Buchholz, bass-baritone Alfred Walker, and tenor John Pickle. Bard College Conservatory 2016 Concerto Competition {…}