(Credit: Sony / Gregor Hohenberg) Famed baritone Christian Gerhaher will lead a group of prominent singers and artists that will take a legal action against closures of theaters, concert halls and opera houses in Bavaria, Germany. This closure is the result of a decision by the authorities of Bavaria led by CSU President Markus Söder to close theaters until the {…}
Credit: Marica Rosengard Celebrated Finnish soprano Karita Mattila has been awarded the Order of the Lion of Finland, First Class Commander Badge. The Order of the Lion of Finland is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The famed Finnish soprano has {…}
(Credit: Wilfried Hoesl) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced that it has canceled all performances until Jan. 31, 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic concerns. The opera house said in a statement that performances “have been canceled in coordination with the responsible Ministry of the federal state of Bavaria. The decision has also affected all state theaters in Bavaria.” The {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper will livestream Puccini’s “La Bohème” as part of its MONTAGSSTÜCKE series. The performance scheduled for Nov. 30 will star Jonas Kaufmann in his Munich role debut as Rodolfo, Rachel Willis-Sørensen as Mimi, Mirjam Mesak as Musetta, Andrei Zhilikhovsky as Marcello, and Sean Michael Plumb as Schaunard. Asher Fisch is set to conduct the production by Otto Schenk. {…}
Following the closure of theaters around European numerous protests were staged outside major theaters Among the theaters that saw protests included the Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro alla Scala, and Gran Teatre del Liceu. According to the Bayerische Staatsoper’s social media pages employees and members of all Munich theaters demonstrated with a human chain through the city center {…}
(Credit: © Marco Borggreve) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that bass Tareq Nazmi will take over the role of Bottom in the upcoming run of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Nazmi will replace bass Matthew Rose. Nazmi will join a cast that includes Lawrence Zazzo in the role of Oberon, Erin Morley as Tytania, Josh Lovell in the role {…}
(Credit: Trond Gudevolt) The Staatsoper unter der Linden has announced that coloratura soprano Caroline Wettergreen will take over the role of Die Königin der Nacht in Mozart and Schikaneder’s “Die Zauberflöte” for the performances on Dec. 27, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. CET, and Jan. 10, 2021. Wettergreen will replace Antonina Vesenina and join a cast that includes René Pape in {…}
(Credit: Marco Borggreve) The Semperoper Dresden has announced that the Oct. 28, 2020 recital of German soprano Anja Harteros has been canceled. In a press release, the company stated, “in the view of the current COVID-19 situation in Germany, the soprano very much regrets having to cancel her appearance at the Semperoper out of caution.” Harteros is scheduled to return {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has canceled performances of “Swan Lake” by the Bavarian State Ballet on Oct. 27 and 30 due to some members testing positive for the coronavirus. As a result, the company has added performances of “Macbeth” and “Madama Butterfly.” The Oct. 27 performance of “Macbeth” will star Željko Lučić, Liudmyla Monastyrska, and Saimir Pirgu, while the Oct. 30 {…}
(Credit: © Pascal Albandopooulos) Opéra National du Rhin has announced that the Slovakian tenor Pavol Breslik has canceled his recital in Strasbourg on Oct. 21, 2020. The opera house stated that the reason for cancelation is the indisposition, not COVID-19 related. The cancelation comes after Breslik pulled out of the last two performances of Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” on {…}
(Credit: Bayerische Staatsoper official website) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced the results of its pilot project, which allowed up to 500 spectators into the opera house. Per the official statement on the company’s website, the pilot phase in the National Theater was professionally assessed by a team of doctors from the Klinikum rechts der Isar at the Technical University of {…}