(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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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” {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
Conductor Andris Nelsons and soprano Kristine Opolais have announced that they will be ending their marriage. In a joint statement, the two artists explained that the dissolution of their marital relationship is being made on amicable terms and that the two will continue to work together professionally. “Sharing, with regret, that Andris Nelsons and Kristine Opolais have divorced following 7 {…}
On August 26, 2017, the Tanglewood Music Festival continued with an opera gala featuring Kristine Opolais and Bryn Terfel. Andris Nelsons conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance that featured the second act of Puccini’s “Tosca” and a number of arias from “Porgy and Bess” and other opera classics. The results were delightful and they showcased two artists at {…}
She won’t be singing “Tosca” at the Metropolitan Opera anymore next season, but Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais is still primed to take on the tragic heroine in the Northeast this summer. On Saturday, August 26, she will join husband and Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons in the second Act of Puccini’s famed masterpiece. She will perform alongside Bryn Terfel, who was to {…}