Philip Glass has a solid trajectory at the Metropolitan Opera. Though few of his operas have had major representation at the hallowed house, their scant performances have tended to be major successes, often flanked by fantastically conceived productions that manage to get the utmost of his meditative masterworks. “Satyagraha” remains one of the great achievements in the Peter Gelb era, {…}
With the 2019-20 season fully underway, we have found this challenge of selecting a choice few operas every weekend increasingly challenging as there is really a lot of special work going on around North America. Nonetheless, as per usual, we have whittled it down to five works that we think will bring a balanced operatic diet for those who want {…}
(Credit: Richard Hubert Smith / ENO) When it opens this Friday, “Akhnaten” will be but the third Philip Glass opera to ever open at the Metropolitan Opera. In sum there will be eight performances of the opera, bringing the total of Glass opera performances at the famed house to 34. The first opera by the Academy Award nominated composer to {…}
The Resonant Bodies Festival will return to New York this fall with three unique concert experiences. First off, the festival will feature tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo alongside Charmaine Lee and Jane Sheldon. Costanzo will feature music for voice and piano while Sheldon will bring an original monodrama “Poem for a Dried Up River.” Lee will work with Conrad Tao on {…}
The Santa Fe Opera has announced that it will be world premiering a new opera by John Corigliano and Mark Adamo during the summer of 2021. The work in question, “The Lord of Cries,” will be the company’s 18th world premiere in its history and will follow other world premieres of “The Thirteenth Child” in 2019 and “M. Butterfly” in {…}
The Theater an der Wien has announced its 2019-20 season featuring numerous rarely performed works, concert operas and a number of new productions. Opera Productions David Afkham conducts Amélie Niermeyer’s new production of Dvorak’s “Rusalka.” Maria Bengtsson sings the title role alongside Ladislav Elgr, Günther Groissböck, Natascha Petrinsky, and Kate Aldrich. Performance Dates: Sept. 19 – 30, 2019 Stefan Gottfried conducts Sam Brown’s production of Mozart’s {…}
On March 31, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions were brought to a thrilling conclusion with their grand finals concert. Hosted by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, nine young finalists took to the Metropolitan’s stage for the first time to share their artistic gifts with the audience. Opening the afternoon’s concert was soprano Meghan Kasanders, singing “Dich, teure Halle’ from {…}
The Boston Baroque will present Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea” with a starry cast. The company announced that soprano Amanda Forsythe will perform the title role alongside countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo making his Boston Baroque debut as Nero. The cast will also include contralto Emily Marvosh as Ottavia, Ryan Belongie as Ottone, tenor Brian Giebler as Arnalta, bass Kevin Langan as Seneca, {…}
Every year the Metropolitan Opera throws in some surprises, whether in repertoire or in casting choices. Sometimes those casting choices are curve-balls that include important returns to the stage. This season, OperaWire is spotlighting six major artists that have not performed on the Met stage in years and will be pleasant surprises to hear and see in 2019-20. Kate Lindsey {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2019-20 season with five new productions, a New Year’s Eve gala, and a recital. Here is a look at what to expect. New Productions The season opens with Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” in a new production by James Robinson. The production stars Eric Owens and Kevin Short sharing the title role of Porgy and {…}
The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts has announced its 2019 summer season, which will feature some of the greatest vocal performers in the world. While the program includes a plethora of instrumental music and performances, our focus for the purposes of this article will be to highlight singers and any opera productions. First up will be “Versaille: Portrait {…}