“Bleakness” would be best used to describe the ambience of this by now well known Royal Opera House revival: David McVicar’s “Rigoletto”. Originally mounted in 2001, it was first publicized as an audacious, controversial exposé of sixteenth-century Mantuan aristocracy; the kind of risky spectacle of which Verdi – plagued chronically by problems with his censors – could have only dreamed. {…}
This Thursday, Dec. 14, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden kicks off its revival of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The production will get a total of nine performances, the final one taking place on Jan. 16, 2018. There will be cast variations throughout, though there will be a consistent crop of artists for most of the performances. Here is a look through {…}
For years Dmitri Hvorostovsky was one of the leading interpreters of “Rigoletto” around the world. And while there are many baritones in the modern era that have successfully realized one of the most complex characters of the Verdi canon, few navigated the emotional turmoil quite the way the great Russian baritone did. He brought crudeness and ugliness to his vocal {…}
Bass Andrea Mastroni has announced his new album, “Melancholia,” which will be released early in 2018. The album will be dedicated to the work of Georg Frederich Handel and will also feature the Orchestra Accademia dell’Annunciata under the musical direction of Riccardo Doni. Audiences will hear arias from such operas as “Ezio,” “Ariodante” “Riccardo I Re d’Inghilterra,” “Riccardo,” “Galatea e Polifemo,” {…}
The full cast for Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s first full recording of “Rigoletto” has been announced. Delos made the announcement via Twitter, noting that the new album is slated for release on Nov. 10, 2017 and will also showcase Nadine Sierra as Gilda, Francesco Demuro as the Duke of Mantua, Andrea Mastroni as Sparafucille, and Oksana Volkova as Maddalena. Constantine Orbelain conducts {…}
The Opera de Lausanne has announced its 2017-18 Season with multiple new productions and many of opera’s biggest stars. The season opens with Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” starring Lenneke Ruiten in the title role alongside Benjamin Bernheim in a new production by Stefano Poda. Jesus Lopez Cobos conducts the opening night. In November Hervé Klopfenstein leads Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” in a {…}
The Houston Grand Opera makes a big return as opera companies slowly but surely get prepared for the spring. Houston’s opening comes on Friday Jan. 20 with a production of John Adams’ “Nixon in China.” Scott Hendricks, Andriana Chuchman and Chad Shelton lead the production which will also take the stage on Sunday, Jan. 22. The Metropolitan Opera continues its {…}
This article was a joint collaboration between David & Francisco Salazar. “I like playing the villain.” That quote, as generic as it is, has been uttered in some variation by numerous actors throughout history. There is an excitement that comes with being the bad guy or girl. Of committing acts onscreen or onstage that you could never imagine doing out {…}
Verdi’s “Rigoletto” returns to the Met stage on Friday, Jan. 20 in a lengthy run through February and then a few days in April. Olga Peretyatko and Željko Lučić will be the production’s mainstays, singing every single presentation of the work this season. This will be the Lučić’s fourth run of “Rigoletto” at the Met, byt far his most performed {…}
Italian bass Andrea Mastroni has just released a music video of one of the most beloved lieders in the repertoire. Directed by Nicola Garzetti and featuring Mattia Ometto at the piano and actor Salvatore Aversano, the video for Schubert’s “Erlkönig” is simple in its approach, but rather engaging. Mainly consisting of four or five scenes and shot in chiaroscuro lighting, {…}