(Photo: Jann Wilken) Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie is not an opera house, yet it regularly presents high-calibre concert performances of opera and oratorio—projects that inevitably place artistic and operational pressure on the city’s Hamburg State Opera. This Bellini evening continued that pattern. With Ensemble Resonanz returning after their previous notable “Norma,” the hall again became a theatre of the imagination. In its {…}
(Photo: © Monika Rittershaus) “Don Giovanni” is an opera of seductions and escapes, moral wreckage and divine retribution, a shimmering mosaic of comedy, tragedy, farce, and existential dread. Yet “the mother of all operas” is also a uniquely treacherous work—at once alluring and intractable, irresistibly open yet elusive. Music’s sublimity rarely fails to connect with audiences, even in a less-than-stellar {…}
The new Robert Icke staging of “Don Giovanni” might upset more than a few spirits. The scenic proposal is certainly disruptive, and its insistence on intervening digitally in the opera’s soundscape is the most acute symptom of “directivitis” (the terrible disease that has afflicted opera directors for the last seven decades). However, I really had a great time watching “Don {…}
(Photo credit: Klara Beck) After its premiere in Dijon, in collaboration with the Orchestre National du Rhin, Verdi’s “La Traviata” arrives in Strasbourg. If the Burgundian production was disappointing, in terms of staging, performers and conducting, the Alsatian revival is far more successful. Admittedly, many of the elements of German director Amélie Niermeyer‘s Dijon production remain, such as the parties {…}
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Productions Jakob Lehmann conducts Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” in a production by Silvia Costa. Benjamin Bernheim, Viktoria Karkacheva, Christian Van Horn, and Thomas Dolié star. Performance Dates: Nov. 3-15, 2025 Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoé” will be conducted by Marc Minkowski and directed by Laurent Pelly. Lawrence Brownlee, Julie Fuchs, Laurent {…}
The Samoan Pene Pati is a sumptuously voiced tenor. He boasts a quintessentially lyrical sound, timbered as if made for virtually anything out of the great Romantics’ operatic pen. In “Nessun Dorma,” he once again proves his qualities: After his 2022 debut on Warner Classics, he takes on a heavily eclectic repertory which he navigates with remarkably executed showpiece notes, {…}
The San Francisco Opera has announced the 2023-24 Emerging Stars Competition. The Emerging Stars Competition, made possible by Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, is a fund for opera singers who have made their mark on the grand stage. The company added, that through the Emerging Stars Fund, Jan and Maria help bring some of opera’s most exciting rising talents {…}
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Luca Salsi and Anna Netrebko team up for Verdi’s “Nabucco.” Ivan Magrì, Marina Prudenskaya, and René Pape join them. Anastasia Bartoli also performs. Bertrand de Billy conducts the new production by Emma Dante. Performance Dates: Oct. 2-26, 2024 Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” receives a new production featuring multiple casts. {…}
The Opéra national du Rhin has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the opera performances. George Benjamin’s “Picture a day like this” opens the season. Performance Dates: Oct. 3-20, 2024 Jakub Józef Orlinski and Michał Biel will perform Purcell, Haendel, Schubert, Baird, and Łukaszewski. Performance Date: Sept. 19, 2024 Alex Rosen, Emöke Baráth, Adèle Charvet, Laurence Kilsby, Lauranne Oliva, Christophe {…}
San Francisco Opera is set to present Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Conducted by Music Director Eun Sun Kim, the opera will be presented in Barrie Kosky’s production and will star Amitai Pati as Tamino and soprano Christina Gansch as Pamina. They will be joined by bass-baritone Lauri Vasar as Papageno, bass Kwangchul Youn as Sarastro, and soprano Anna Simińska as the {…}
(Photo: Franck Ferville) Unfortunately, I could not attend the opening night of Paris Opera’s premiere of “Beatrice di Tenda.” I even tried to emulate the experience of an opening night: I avoided, as much as I could, reading the reviews. But, before I could stop them, a few friends had stressed how negative most reviews were. After watching the opera, {…}