The Palau de La Musica has announced its 2019-20 season featuring guest performers, a number of choral pieces and all stars. Here is a break down of the operatic and vocal performances the season will offer. The season opens with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge with the Jove de l’Orfeó Català in music by Wylkynson, Byrd, Britten, Lobo, Casals, Harvey, Weir, Villiers Stanford, {…}
The line-up for the first-ever Riga Jurmala Music Festival has been announced. The festival will take place in the Latvian cities of Riga and Jurmala this summer in a series of four concert and recital-packed weekends. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on the vocal/opera-related performances. The first weekend of the Festival will kick off at {…}
Schubert’s “Winterreise” is perhaps one of the most famous song cycles in the world. Composed of 24 contrasting songs, it is a whirlwind of emotions and a test for any singer. For many, it is the pinnacle of the lieder repertoire and one that poses some of the most difficult challenges for a recitalist. On Jan. 10, 2019 at the {…}
“The last of the old great masters of song” has been a term used to describe the German baritone Benjamin Appl. Hailed for his “sensitive legato,” Appl has performed in both opera and recitals around the world in such stages as Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Edinburgh International, Life Victoria Barcelona, Leeds Lieder, Oxford Lieder festivals, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, among others. {…}
German baritone Benjamin Appl is set to make his first U.S. recital tour. The German baritone announced that he will be on tour from Jan. 6 through the 20th with pianist James Baillieu. Then, Appl will perform in New York, Portland, New Orleans, Cleveland, and Washington D.C. For his U.S. debut recital tour, Appl will be performing a wide range {…}
As the holiday season approaches, a number of new releases will be available this week. Last week we saw the releases of new albums by Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and the world premiere recording of Anton Rubenstein’s “Moses” and this week’s offerings include an homage to Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a new release for Jonas Kaufmann, a new collaboration between two major {…}
Piotr Beczala has canceled his upcoming recital. The tenor announced via social media that due to illness he would not be able to perform the recital planned for August 25, 2018. The tenor said, “With deepest regret I have to inform, that I am forced to cancel my Saturday’s performance at the Angelika Kauffmann Hall in Schwarzenberg due to laryngitis. {…}
Lago di Como is said to be the most beautiful place in Italy, which is a very big call indeed. Since Pliny the Younger, Lake Como has attracted discerning aristocrats, poets, politicians and potentates, artists and arrivistes, cultivated voyageurs and celebrity votaries. Stendhal and Mark Twain, George IV’s unwelcome wife Queen Caroline, Sir Winston Churchill, Gianni Versace, numerous Rockefellers, Richard {…}