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 {…}
(Credit: Simon Pauly) “The music is giving me what I need. Music has always given me what I needed in my life.” When the COVID-19 hurricane struck humanity in full force in March, tenor Martin Muehle was about to begin rehearsals for the supernatural opera “The Queen of Spades” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. At that moment it was obvious {…}
(Credit: Staatsoper unter der Linden Facebook page) The Staatsoper unter der Linden in Berlin has announced changes to its 2020-21 season. The productions of Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” and Britten’s “The Turn of The Screw” have been canceled, per an official press release. Instead, the opera house will offer three presentations of the gala concert “Viva Verdi!,” on Oct. 4, {…}
(Credit: Oberon’s Grove) French coloratura soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre has died at the age of 88. Eda-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique. She came to France to finish her studies at Conservatoire de Paris and in 1957, she made her professional debut in the role of Leïla in Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles.” She went on to perform at {…}
(Credit: © Gregor Hohenberg) The Metropolitan Opera Stars Live in Concert series continued this Sunday with a performance by the celebrated French-Italian tenor Roberto Alagna and Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak on the hilltop medieval village of Èze, France. On the outdoor terrace located at the Château de la Chèvre d’Or, Alagna and Kurzak were accompanied by the Vienna Morphing Quintet. {…}
(Credits: Piotr Lempa’s Facebook Page/ Baltic Opera) The Baltic Opera in Gdansk has announced its fall season. In keeping with safety regulations due to ongoing concerns over COVID-19, spectators will be required to wear facemasks at all times and maintain a 1,5 m social distance. Here is the look at the upcoming slate. Rossini’s operatic masterpiece “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” {…}
Opera San José has announced plans to create the Fred Heiman Digital Media Studio, a state-of-the-art performance space housed within Opera San José headquarters in Northern California. The project demonstrates OSJ’s commitment to presenting the first half of its 2020 – 21 season while safeguarding audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by Opera San José trustee Peggy Heiman in honor {…}
In the 1940s and 1950s, Risë Stevens was one of the Metropolitan Opera’s brightest stars. The mezzo-soprano was born Risë Gus Steenberg on June 11, 1913, in New York City. She studied at Juilliard and made her debut in Thomas’ “Mignon” in Prague. After singing at the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Colón, and Glyndebourne, Stevens returned to the United States {…}
(Credit: Metropolitan Opera) This week’s quiz is going to take a dramatic left turn. If you’ve been following this special feature since we started in late 2017, you’ll know that we seldom use images for quizzes. But we’re going to try something different this week. We’re going to present you with the image from a famous opera score and ask {…}
The Opéra National de Paris will be streaming a past performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” in a production by Calixto Bieito. The famed opera will be conducted by Bertrand de Billy with Roberto Alagna as Don José, Elina Garanca in the title role, and Maria Agresta as Micaëla. The stream is available between April 27 through May 3; only audiences in {…}
“Opera Meets Film is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will hone in on a selection or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perceptions of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Akira Kurosawa’s {…}
