The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced its 2019-20 season with Yannick Nézet-Séguin celebrating his eighth season as music director. Here is a look at the vocal highlights for the orchestra next season. Nézet-Séguin and the Fabulous Philadelphians launch the 120th season with an Opening Night Concert and Gala featuring legendary opera singer Plácido Domingo. The evening, which marks the start of Nézet-Séguin’s {…}
Even before you stepped into the Metropolitan Opera on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, you knew who the star of the night was destined to be. The entire marketing campaign run by the Metropolitan Opera in anticipation of “Il Trittico” had seemingly focused on one person and one person only. The company had announced a special ceremony would take place at {…}
Puccini’s “Il Trittico” returns to the Met Opera on Nov. 23, 2018, for seven performances. Despite being one of Puccini’s finest works, it has only been presented with the company on 74 occasions; by the end of this run, it will have 81 performances total. As is always the case with these operas, there are a ton of singers involved {…}
Stepping into the opera house is almost always about stepping into the past. If that past is a vision of lavishness and grandeur, seeing the current production of Puccini’s “Turandot” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago is emblematic of what anyone would envision as the quintessential operatic experience. Now that’s not to say that this production, directed by Rob Kearley {…}
Opera Australia has announced its 2018 season featuring a number of important debuts and some of the most prestigious singers in the world. Sydney Summer 2018 The summer season kicks off with Lehár’s “The Merry Widow” featuring Danielle De Niese in her Opera Australia debut. The opera will be Conducted by Vanessa Scammell and directed by Graeme Murphy. Presented at {…}
The Washington National Opera (WNO) has announced that American soprano Leah Crocetto will sing the title role of “Aida” in performances on September 10, 15, and 17 replacing American soprano Amber Wagner, who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons. WNO Artistic Director and Aida director Francesca Zambello said, “We are incredibly fortunate that an artist of the caliber {…}
This article is a joint collaboration between David & Francisco Salazar. This past weekend saw the end of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season. This week we will take a look back at the greatest moments that this season brought us, beginning with the top performers that we enjoyed. Since ladies should always go first, we start with the top 10 {…}
This is a review for the final performance of the run, which took place on May 12, 2017. The first opera I saw during the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season was Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” So it was only fitting that the last one I saw this season was “Der Fliegende Holländer,” the first to truly establish the composer as {…}
Every opera singer has a dream of performing at the Metropolitan Opera in a leading role. The dream takes a lot of work and hours of rehearsing, practicing, auditioning and, in many ways, luck. But it also takes years of building an international career. For Amber Wagner 2017 marks her first big contract with the theater after making her debut {…}
Wagner’s first masterpiece “Der Fliegende Holländer” returns to the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday, April 25 after a seven-year absence. Despite being well-known throughout the opera world, “The Flying Dutchman,” as translated in English, has had a rather interesting history at the Met marked by long hiatuses. The opera opened the 1889-1890 season in its first-ever performance. The cast that included {…}
As Renee Fleming entered from stage right, she garnered a low wave of astonishment from her shimmering silver dress and matching blue shimmering shawl. Taking to the podium, she began to explain that for many aspiring singers, the results of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions competition would propel their careers. For her, it took 3 times before winning (she even {…}