Adela Zaharia, Maria Kataeva, Elena Sancho Pereg & Elisabet Strid Headline Deutsche Oper am Rhein’s 2021-22 Season

(Credit: Jens Wegener) The Deutsche Oper am Rhein has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Opera Premieres Dorottya Láng and Bogdan Taloş star in Demis Volpi’s production of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” with Axel Kober conducting. Performance dates: Sep. 10 – Oct. 2, 2021 Mieczysław Weinberg’s opera “MaselTov!” spotlights Lavinia Dames, Kimberley Boettger-Soller, Anna Harvey, Sylvia Hamvasi, {…}

May 25, 2021

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Flórez, Marina Rebeka, Anita Rachvelishvili Lead Wiener Konzerthaus 2021-22 Season

(Credits: © Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment / © Tatiana Vlasova / © Dario Acosta) The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2021-22 season featuring a variety of concerts from some of the world’s greatest performers. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the vocal {…}

Apr 28, 2021

Nina Stemme, Stuart Skelton, Lise Davidsen, and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller Highlight Philharmonie de Paris Fall 2021 Season

(Photo Credits: Artists Management Zürich official website / Sim Canetty-Clarke / Ray Burmiston / Chris Gonz) Philharmonie de Paris has announced its fall 2021 season, which will run from Sep. 8 until Dec. 23, 2021. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on vocal works only. Soprano Christine Goerke and tenor Klaus Florian Vogt perform Richard Wagner’s works {…}

Feb 20, 2020

Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn 2019-20 Review: Bluebeard’s Castle

(Credit: Konstantin Nazlamov/TOBS) The small Swiss town of Biel is home to what must be one of the world’s smallest theaters that is able to boast a regular opera season. With a seating capacity of under 300, spread over three tiers, it is an intimate space in which everyone in the audience is close to the stage. The orchestra pit {…}

Feb 4, 2020

Teatro La Fenice 2019-20 Review: A Hand Of Bridge/Bluebeard’s Castle

(Credit: Michele Crosera) The Teatro La Fenice’s pairing of Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Samuel Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge” certainly made for an interesting and unusual double bill, although the relationship between the works was not immediately evident. This was recognized by the director Fabio Ceresa who explored possible connections, but finding none, opted to stage them as two distinct, {…}

Dec 12, 2019

Opera Meets Film: How Life & Art Are Intertwined in ‘The Souvenir’s’ Use of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’

“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment looks at Joanna Hogg’s {…}

Jun 5, 2019

Ruxandra Donose & Kateřina Kněžíková Highlight Bamberger Symphoniker’s 2019-20 Season

Bamberger Symphoniker has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal and opera-related performances. Jakub Hrůša will conduct the Bamberger Symphoniker during a performance of Wagner’s Prelude to “Lohengrin.” The program will also include Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in G Minor, Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, {…}

Mar 21, 2019

Kristine Opolais, Christian Gerhaher & Rachel Willis-Sørensen Highlight Staatskapelle Dresden’s 2019-20 Season

(© Semperoper Dresden/Matthias Creutziger) Staatskapelle Dresden has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on the vocal performances. The season will open with Symphonic Diversity, split into two programs over three days. On the first two days, Myung When-Chung will conduct Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, featuring Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, as well as {…}

Jan 25, 2019

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Review: Iolanta & Bluebeard’s Castle

This review was written by David & Francisco Salazar for the performance on Jan. 24, 2019. With the double bill of “Iolanta” and “Bluebeard’s Castle,” director Mariusz Trelinski sought to explore how the search for vision could lead to growth but inversely lead to darker truths and self-destruction. When his production returned to the Met Opera on Thursday, Jan. 24, {…}

Jan 21, 2019

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Preview: The Fascinating Double Bill Pairings of ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ At the Met

On Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera will revive its double bill of “Iolanta” and “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The former work will receive its eighth performance at the Met on Thursday in just its first revival with the company. However, the history of “Bluebeard’s Castle” and its 31 performances with the company is intriguing. The work itself is rather brief {…}

Jan 20, 2019

Q & A: Maestro Henrik Nánási on Met Opera’s ‘Iolanta’ & ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’

Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” and Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” will return to the Metropolitan Opera as a double after a successful run a few seasons ago. On first look, it seems like a strange combination with the composers’ styles rather different overall. It takes a truly strong maestro to move from Tchaikovsky’s lush lyrical qualities to Bartók’s challenging harmonic structures. Hungarian maestro Henrik {…}

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