Andris Nelsons, Kristine Opolais & Ildar Abdrazakov Lead Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 Season

(Credit: Tatyana Vlasova) The Boston Symphony Orchestra announce its 2020-21 season noting that anything can change due to the coronavirus pandemic. As always we highlight the vocal performances in this season announcement. The Beethoven Cycle concludes with Andris Nelsons leading the composer’s Ninth Symphony with soloists Amanda Majeski, Tamara Mumford, Pavel Černoch, Kwangchul Youn, and Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The program {…}

Mar 23, 2020

Emily Magee, Klaus Florian Vogt & Andris Nelsons Highlight Gewandhaus Leipzig’s 2020-21 Season

The Gewandhaus Leipzig has announced its 2020-21 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances that will featured throughout the season. Gotthold Schwarz conducts Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium with soloists Mojca Erdmann, Elvira Bill, Julian Prégardien, Martin Lattke, and Klaus Mertens. Performance Dates: Dec. 11-13, 2020 Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with soloists Amanda Majeski, Mihoko Fujimura, Klaus Florian Vogt, {…}

Nov 22, 2019

Susan Graham, Angel Blue, Tamara Wilson Among Major Stars of Tanglewood 2020 Season

Tanglewood has announced its 2020 slate, which is, as per usual, filled with some of the most recognized artists on the planet. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on opera related programming. Angel Blue will make her company debut in the Opening Night at Tanglewood concert alongside the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the musical direction of Ken-David {…}

Aug 2, 2019

Tanglewood 2019 Review: Die Walküre

(Credit: Hilary Scott) Let’s start stating – to me – the obvious. The cast that Tanglewood put together for its first complete performance of a Wagner opera could not reasonably be improved upon. Every voice was stunning in its own way. Every character from the hoary mythos was carefully and movingly delineated. The staging of this opera was simple yet {…}

Apr 25, 2019

Diana Damrau, Renée Fleming & Nina Stemme Headline Musikverein Wien’s 2019-20 Season

Musikverein Wien has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal performances. Martin Haselböck will lead the Orchester Wiener Akademie in a performance of various works by Franz Schubert as well as Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. Baritone Thomas Hampson will be featured. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2019 Bass Günther Groissböck and {…}

Apr 2, 2019

Matthias Goerne, Olga Peretyatko & Antonio Pappano Highlight Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra’s 2019-20 Season

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on vocal performances. The season will open with a concert led by Frank-Steffen Elster featuring the GewandhausJugendchor. They will perform works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2019 Elster will lead the GewandhausJugendchor, and {…}

Mar 5, 2019

Royal Opera House & English National Opera Lead Olivier Award Nominations

The Olivier Awards have announced their annual nominations. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the opera categories. In the category of Best New Opera Production the Royal Opera House received two nominations for its productions of “Kat’ya Kabanova” and “Lessons of Love and Violence.” Also nominated in the category was “The Turn of the Screw” {…}

Oct 19, 2018

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig 2018-19 Review: The Autumn Tour

Since Andris Nelsons became the 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in February 2018, he has started to plan a European tour to represent this great collaboration with the orchestra. This tour features appearances in London, in Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Dortmund in Germany, in Malmo and Stockholm in Sweden, as well as in Nelsons’ homeland, Latvia — in Riga and in {…}

Jul 17, 2018

Tanglewood Festival 2018 – La Bohème

Some reading this review — perhaps many — have never been to the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. Much more than the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood is a magical place; so many thrilling, historical performances and moments have taken place here. And I’ve been lucky to attend many of those performances, such as Seiji Ozawa’s {…}

Jul 7, 2018

Jonathan Tetelman Replaces Piotr Beczala At Tanglewood

Tenor Jonathan Tetelman will replace Piotr Beczala in “La Bohème” at Tanglewood. Beczala was supposed to take on his signature role alongside soprano Kristine Opolais but opted for performing in “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival when Roberto Alagna stepped down from the production. Tetelman sang his first performances of Rodolfo in the Puccini masterpiece at the Fujian Grand Theatre in {…}

Jun 9, 2018

Royal Opera House 2017-2018 Review – Lohengrin: Christine Goerke Shines Among Solid Cast As Half-Awoken Myths Stay in the (Wartime) Trenches of Reality

Its preludes are themselves landmarks of beauty – but Wagner’s 1850 opera “Lohengrin” is a prelude to his future epics. Rooted in Arthurian legend, taking the son of King Parsifal as its hero, and featuring prayers to the pagan gods Wotan and Freia, it is another battle between the divine and the mortal. In mythical medieval Brabant, Count Friedrich von {…}

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