This week, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is set to open “Nabucco,” the work that put Verdi on the map and is regarded as one of his early masterpieces. At the core of the opera is the challenging role of Abigaille, which requires a soprano who can sing both very low and very high with dramatic force and is also capable {…}
This week the famed Festival Verdi in Parma is set to open in a revamped version that will feature some of the composer’s well-known works and a few curiosities. Among them will be Verdi’s “Macbeth” in its rarely performed French version with one of today’s greatest baritones Ludovic Tézier in the title role. Today Tézier is one of the go-to {…}
This week the 2020-21 season begins in many European theaters. And with the reopening of seasons, many opera companies are adapting to restrictions imposed by health departments and experimenting with the repertoire. The Finnish National Opera is one of the companies that restructured its season and will present the world premiere of “COVID fan tutte” to open the season. The {…}
With opera in full swing in Europe and multiple artists beginning to tour, the opera world seems to be getting back to a somewhat new normal. This week Cecilia Bartoli embarks on a European tour with Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco, returning to the stage after months of quarantine and after canceling her Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Bartoli will perform {…}
With festival season in full swing in Europe and experimentation a key to this year’s programs, the Festival Valle di Itria in Martina Franca is scheduled to open a new production of the Italian version of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos.” The production will be headed by an all-star cast that includes the world-renown coloratura soprano, Jessica Pratt. Pratt will {…}
As Europe gets back to performing opera productions in unique and innovative ways, the United States continues to cancel or stream performances. However, this week the Northern Light Festival in Minnesota is taking its chances and presenting the first operatic production since the COVID-19 crisis in a new socially-distanced production of Puccini’s “Tosca.” The festival has assembled an all-star cast {…}
(Credit: Marco Borrelli) Back in March at the height of the Pandemic, OperaWire stopped writing Artist of the Week profiles as every opera house was shut down. Now with theaters reopening in Europe, OperaWire will resume its Artist of the Week series highlighting one artist a week. This week marks the reopening of the Teatro alla Scala nearly four months {…}
(Credit: Monika Rittershaus) “Rossini’s Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra” is one of Rossini’s rarely performed works due to its level of difficulty. Yet it has been performed over the years as a diva showcase for the likes of Leyla Gencer, Montserrat Caballe, and Jennifer Larmore, among many others. This week, the work is set to make a rare appearance at the Odyssey {…}
Pretty Yende is one of today’s most sought-after sopranos, best known for her charisma and vocal fireworks. She is exciting to watch and has proven herself to be a performer capable of exposing new insights into each character she inhabits. Throughout the past years, the soprano has sung some of the most challenging coloratura roles in the repertory, while putting {…}
(Credit: www.osberphotos.com) Over the past 20 years, Opera in the Heights has provided opportunities for emerging artists, including singers and composers, to showcase their work. Many of their artists have gone on to prominent careers in some of the most established regional theaters in the U.S. This week, the company is set to world three operas with many emerging singers {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver/Lyric Opera of Chicago) Elisabet Strid is considered one of today’s leading dramatic sopranos. She has performed on some of the world’s greatest stages to great acclaim and has specialized in the works of Wagner and Strauss. But there is without a doubt one role that has defined her career up to this point; Sieglinde in Wagner’s “Die {…}