The Festival Musica Strasbourg has announced its 44th season. Here is a look at classical voice events. Roomful of Teeth and composer Gabriel Kahane perform “Elevator Songs.” Performance Date: Sept. 18, 2026 “The Alonetimes” by Jennifer Walshe and Philip Venables is performed by vocalists Loré Lixenberg and Oskar McCarthy, along with several instrumentalists. Performance Dates: Sept. 18 -20, 2026 Soprano {…}
(Photo: Roberto Santos-Luy) Having just watched the splendid Irish soprano Amy Ní Fhearraigh, one of Ireland’s rising stars, in her role debut as Donna Anna in Blackwater Valley Opera Festival’s production of “Don Giovanni” as well as being scheduled to review her next role as Cora in the world premiere of Michael Gallen’s award-winning new opera “The Curing Line” at {…}
(Photo: Frances Marshall) There were very few members of the audience who left the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” without a smile on their faces. And why shouldn’t they have? After all, there was plenty to smile about. For this was a no-frills, simple production that presented the well-known narrative for laughs, nothing more. There was {…}
(Photo: Pato Cassinoni) Irish National Opera‘s (INO) recent tour of Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” took in a number of small venues across Ireland that rarely, if ever, get featured in its normal schedule. Included were towns such as Birr, Monaghan and Manorhamilton, situated in the rural hinterlands, far distant from the Dublin metropolis and the smaller urban areas of Galway, {…}
The Irish National Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with a darkly comic new opera, “MARS,” a commissioned work from Jennifer Walshe and Mark O’Connell. The work will star sopranos Nina Guo and Jade Phoenix, and mezzo-sopranos Doreen Curran and Sarah Richmond. Performance Dates: July 25–27 & August 7–9, 2025. The company will present “Viva Verdi, Viva Wagner” with Irish soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace, US {…}
(Photo credit: Sean O’Riordan) The Blackwater Valley Opera Festival unveils programming for its 15th anniversary season. For the purposes of this article, only vocal works are featured. Recitals & Mainstage Performances Festival artists and the Discover Singing Children’s Choir perform in the opening ceremony. Performance Date: May 27, 2025 (Lismore Millennium Park) Purcell’s “Dido And Aeneas” is presented by mezzo-soprano {…}
(Photo: INO, Kip Carroll) “Least Like The Other” continues the Royal Opera House’s partnership with Irish National Opera in Covent Garden’s Linbury Theatre, following last year’s “Bajazet.” This new work is centuries away from Vivaldi’s pasticcio and a world apart stylistically, but what binds them both is the unerring pursuit of bracing theatrical intensity. “Least Like The Other, Searching for {…}
(Photo: Pat Redmond) Irish National Opera continues to march forward. Although only in its fifth year, it has managed to establish itself as an innovative, forward-thinking company of high quality, which successfully mixes traditional productions with new works and modern presentation methods. Whereas many companies closed down during the COVID crisis, INO used it to showcase new short operas via {…}
The Irish National Opera has announced its 2021-22 season which will begin with streamed performances and then continue with a return to live performances. Here is a look: Streamed Performances The company will world premiere a new film version of Peter Maxwell Davies’ chamber opera “The Lighthouse” directed by Edwina Casey presented in outdoor screenings at locations across Ireland. Brenton {…}
(Photo: Hugh O’Conor) With the closure of the theatres, opera companies have turned to streaming their productions. However, with all the goodwill in the world, they tend to fall into the category of second-hand, second-rate experiences. In fact, many would argue that watching an opera on the screen in the comfort of your own home does not work at all. {…}
Irish National Opera has announced the continuation of its season with “20 Shots of Opera,” which will be filmed and made available on Dec. 17, 2020. The work features 20 compact operas from 20 Ireland-based composers including Gerald Barry, Éna Brennan, Irene Buckley, Linda Buckley, Robert Coleman, David Coonan, Alex Dowling, Peter Fahey, Michael Gallen, Andrew Hamilton, Jenn Kirby, Conor {…}