(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, {…}
The Opéra de Paris is set to livestream Bellini’s “Beatrice di Tenda” on Feb. 15, 2024. The opera will be broadcast on the company’s streaming platform and will star Tamara Wilson in the title role alongside Quinn Kelsey, Theresa Kronthaler, Pene Pati, Amitai Pati, and Taesung Lee. Mark Wigglesworth conducts the Bellini rarity in a production by Peter Sellars. The production {…}
Seattle Opera has announced the lineup for its 60th anniversary concert “Windows from the Past, Doors to the Future.” The event, scheduled for one night only on May 11, 2023 at McCaw Hall, will feature Greer Grimsley as both co-host and singer. He is joined by Ginger Costa-Jackson, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Sarah Coburn, John Moore, Duke Kim, Amitai Pati, and {…}
(Photo Credit: Steven Harris) The Savonlinna Opera Festival is set to open later this month. Here is a rundown of the 2023 slate. First up is “Romeo et Juliette,” conducted by Yves Abel and directed by Amy Lane. The opera stars superstar Lisette Oropesa and Amitai Pati in Cast A, with Marjukka Tepponen and Antonio Poli in the second cast. {…}