Easter Weekend is upon us and the opera companies around the world are doing their utmost to bring people to the theater. Here is a look at the things going around in the international opera scene. Austria Reiman’s “Medea” opens the weekend on Saturday at the Vienna State Opera with Claudia Barainsky, Stephanie Houtzeel, Monika Bohinec, Norbert Ernst, Adrian Eröd and {…}
Where one would expect the operatic double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci,” Teatro Comunale di Bologna instead opened last night’s double bill with Poulenc’s “La Voix Humaine” and Mascagni’s ever-famous verismo opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana,” appropriately placed with the approaching Easter season. La Voix Humaine “Voix Humaine,” set to music from Cocteau’s play of the same name, is described as {…}
It’s another busy weekend and many festivals are about to start including the Salzburg Osterfestpiele and the Baden Baden Osterfestpiele. Both these festivals will be headlined by some of the greatest singers in the world. Additionally many acclaimed runs continue. Austria “Medea” kicks off the weekend at the Vienna State Opera followed by Rossini’s “L’Italiana D’Algeri.” To conclude it all {…}
Anna Caterina Antonacci is regarded as one of the greatest mezzo-sopranos of our time. She has performed all over the world in diverse repertoire and has thrilled audiences with her dramatic acting and vocal fireworks. Recently she has been making waves in Poulenc’s “La Voix Humaine,” one of the most popular one-woman operas in the world. She has performed the {…}
Piotr Beczala encored “Pourquoi me réveiller” yesterday during the opening night performance of Massenet’s “Werther” at the Grand Theatre Liceu in Barcelona. The famed aria is one of the showstopping pieces in the opera but it is rare to hear an encore in this work. However, Beczala is the latest tenor in the past month to encore the aria. In {…}
This weekend many of the international opera houses are back in session and so are many of the stars. Juan Diego Florez will be in Vienna while Yonghoon Lee will be premiering Don Carlo in Munich. Renee Fleming, Anna Smirnova and Ludovic Tezier will also be performing Austria The Vienna State Opera kicks off its weekend with a star studded {…}
Piotr Beczala takes on the role of Massenet’s “Werther” on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017, kick starting the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s run of the famed opera. Beczala took on the challenging role in Salzburg in August 2015 before reprising it at the Opéra National de Paris exactly one year ago. His return to the role on Sunday will be the {…}
This weekend is a time to celebrate and to get into the Christmas spirit. And that is exactly what all the opera companies are doing. The weekend will see works by Mozart, Puccini, Humperdinck and Verdi presented. Many of the world’s most famous are on vacation but there are still stars ready to sing including Piotr Beczala, Rene Pape, Nino {…}
On Tuesday Dec. 6 the Paris National Opera will broadcast Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna.” The broadcast will mark the role debut of Elina Garanca in the role of Santuzza in “Cavalleria Rusticana.” Garanca recently noted that Santuzza was a dream role and was the basis of her newest album “Revive.” It also marks Garanca’s entry into dramatic Mezzo {…}