(Credit: Opera Australia official website) Celebrated Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky has died at the age of 75. Moshinsky graduated from the University of Melbourne and made his operatic debut in 1975 at the Royal Opera House with a production of Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes.” The famed director went on to stage a number of highly successful productions at the {…}
Chiltern Arts presents excerpts from Benjamin Britten’s “Saint Nicolas” cantata via a free-to-view 20-minute video celebrating the story of Santa Claus. Director Bill Barclay has created a powerful, spiritually uplifting film that anticipates the time when we will once more come together to celebrate musicmaking. The film features Royal Opera House tenor Nick Pritchard and British choral and orchestra conductor, {…}
Lockdown has meant more people than ever consuming opera through streams, broadcasts, and archive videos, often from leading houses. It has proved a mixed experience for many. The spectacle of opera, and its broad-brush gestures, can feel boxy on the small screen; so too can its emotional climaxes feel oddly overblown out of a theatrical context. There have been innovative {…}
(Credits: Ray Burmiston/Decca Classics / Gregor Hohenberg/Sony Music Entertainment / Shirley Suarez) The Wigmore Hall has announced January 2021 slate. All concerts will be streamed on the company’s website in HD. Additionally, all live-streamed concerts will be available on-demand for 30 days after the date of the concert. If the epidemiological situation permits, concerts will allow up to 200 spectators. {…}
Grange Park Opera, Surrey, is set to stream a production of “Owen Wingrave” starting on Dec. 9, 2020. The Britten opera was filmed at haunted houses throughout Surrey and London and will be part of the company’s interim season, which features 19 brand new events. The opera stars Ross Ramgobin as Owen with his aunt portrayed by Susan Bullock. Other {…}
The Royal College of Music (RCM) announced additional details about its upcoming two-part series, Opera Scenes. RCM selected works from across the repertoire that touch on themes of isolation, separation, and resolution. The premiere of Opera Scenes will stream on the College’s YouTube channel and Facebook page on Nov. 27 and 28 at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. The Nov. {…}
(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 {…}
(Credits: Sonya Garza / Monarca Studios / Yan Bleney / Yan Bleney / Marco Borggreve) The Santa Fe Opera has announced its 2021 season, which will run from July 10 through August 27, 2021. The opera house will present 30 performances of four operas, and a special concert featuring soprano Angel Blue. “The pandemic has been tragic and it’s not {…}
(Credit: Opus 3 Artists official website) The Office of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has announced the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020. Among those honored was General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Donald Cameron Runnicles, who has been bestowed with the title of the Knights Bachelor, for services to Music. Donald Runnicles is concurrently the General Music Director {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / Rachelle Durkin official website) The Adelaide Festival has announced the centerpiece of its 2021 Edition. Benjamin Britten’s operatic masterwork “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will make its Australian debut at the festival. The opera will star countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen in the role of Oberon; soprano Rachelle Durkin as Tytania; soprano Taryn Fiebig in the role of {…}
Credits: (Dragana Branković / Intermusica Official website / Egils Silins official website) The Staatstheater Kassel has announced the complete casts for its 2020-21 season. Here is the full rundown. Premieres “L’Ultimo Sogno,” one act opera by Giuseppe Verdi and Carlo Ciceri will feature Vlada Borovko in the role of Violetta Valéry, Giordano Lucà as Alfredo Germont, while Cozmin Sime and {…}