(Photo: OMC Marco Borrelli) On Sunday March 2nd, 2025, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo presented a concert performance of Act two of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The concert was billed as a prelude to the annual music festival Le Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, which will open on March 12th. The evening began with the {…}
(Photo: Monika Ritterhaus / Courtesy of Staatsoper Hamburg) Dmitri Tcherniakov‘s new production of “Ariadne auf Naxos” at Staatsoper Hamburg rounds out his visual and thematic arc from “Elektra” and “Salome,” ending the Strauss trilogy. Once again, Tcherniakov sets the drama within the same apartment building. The apartment now is simply refinished in a lavish Prussian blue with golden accents, and {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver) Whether you view Richard Wagner’s opera, “Tristan und Isolde,” as an expressive tale of universal human redemption or simply a unique take on the many medieval romances of love and death, there is no question it casts a spell. In the opening of San Francisco’s new production by Paul Curran, conducted by San Francisco’s own Eun Sun {…}
San Francisco Opera is set to present Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The opera is set to be presented between Oct. 19 and Nov. 5 for five performances under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Paul Curran makes his company debut directing a cast that will be led by Wagnerian interpreters Simon O’Neill and Anja {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get to hear two high anticipated album debuts by two celebrated performers. There are also reissues and the completion of an acclaimed Ring Cycle. O Sole Mio – Reissue Decca Classics reissues Luciano Pavarotti’s classic album. The album showcases {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week there will be two choices of Ring Cycles and a debut album by one of the greatest opera singers in the world. Carlos Simon: Songs of Separation The National Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda releases “Songs of Separation,” {…}
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo has announced its 2024-25 season. Festival Centenaire Puccini Giacomo Sagripanti conducts Puccini’s “La Rondine“ in Concert. Pretty Yende, Charles Castronovo, Deanna Breiwick, Juan Francisco Gatell, and Roberto de Candia. Performance Date: Oct. 30, 2024 Anna Netrebko, Nino Machaidze, Mariam Battistelli, Yusif Eyvazov, and Florian Sempey lead Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Biagio Pizzuti, Giorgi Manoshvili, and Matteo Peirone {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with the “Opera Ball.” Performance Dates: Sept. 6, 2024 The first opera production is “Un Ballo in Maschera” starring Michael Fabiano, Lianna Haroutounian, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Judit Kutasi, and Meigui Zhang. Eun Sun Kim conducts a production directed by Leo Muscato. Performance Dates: Sept. 6-27, 2024 There will also be an “Opera {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. In this edition, a leading Bel Canto interpreter delves into mad scenes with her new alum while a rarely performed opera by a female composer gets a new release. There is also a special Wagner recording out this week. Rheinberger & Mendelssohn Choral {…}
(Credit: © Michele Crosera) On June 22, the Teatro La Fenice opened a new production of “Die Fliegende Holländer” in a very unconventional way that succeeded musically despite not quite reaching those same heights theatrically. Regie Confusion As he walked onstage to receive his applause, Marcin Lakomicki was received by some boos from the audience. One would imagine that a {…}
Photo: Tristram Kenton Expectations were high for Deborah Warner’s new production of Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” at the Royal Opera House. Warner’s acclaimed treatment of “Peter Grimes” saw her in similar territory—indeed, the debt owed to Berg’s score by Britten is considerable—in a pair of twentieth-century operas about alienated outsiders, disturbed by the very society that despises them. Both pieces are {…}
