It is hard to imagine Russian music without Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Russian literature without poet Alexander Pushkin. Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Queen of Spades,” based on the eponymous novella by Pushkin, is one of the most important of the existing operas. Its beautiful and dark music leaves hardly any hope at the end, revealing a very fatalistic, and very Slavic, way {…}
Medici.tv is set to live stream two more performances from the Salzburg Festival. The streaming service will first showcase Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” on August 16, 2018, starring Brandon Jovanovich, Hanna Schwarz, Evgenia Muraveva, Oksana Volkova, and Vladislav Sulimsky. Mariss Jansons will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Then on August 20, 2018, Medici will showcase Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” with Sonya Yoncheva in the {…}
Here’s a look at the operas to see this weekend around Europe. The Queen of Spades – Salzburg Festival, Austria The highly anticipated new production of Tchaikovsky’s masterwork opens with Brandon Jovanovich singing the lead and Evgenia Muraveva as Liza. Oksana Volkova, Hanna Schwarz, Igor Golovatenko, and Vladislav Sulimsky also star in Hans Neuenfels’ production. Mariss Jansons conducts. Carmen – Bregenz Festival, Austria Bizet’s {…}
This summer, the San Francisco Opera will present Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in three complete cycles. The company will showcase each cycle over the course of one week as the composer originally intended, from June 12 through July 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. The cast is set to include some of today’s greatest Wagnerians including Irene Theorin (Brünnhilde), Greer {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced the 2018-19 season, which will feature many of opera’s great stars. There are a ton of ensemble artists that are due for big years, including Olga Bezsmertna who is slated for a whopping nine roles this season. But here is a look at five other artists who are poised to be the must-see performers {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2018-19 season, which is set to include eight new productions and a number of revival productions. The season will also include a number of concert performances as well as recitals in the company’s summer festival. Here is a look at all the operatic events. New Productions Amélie Niermeyer directs a new production of Verdi’s {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2018 summer festival. This season the festival will showcase eight operas in concert and staged performances. “Die Zauberflöte” will be the festival’s sole Mozart offering starring Matthias Goerne as Sarastro, Mauro Peter as Tamino, Albina Shagimuratova in the role of the Queen of the Night, Christiane Karg as Pamina, and Adam Plachetka as Papageno. Constantinos Carydis conducts Lydia Steier’s new production. {…}
The Los Angeles Opera has added one more performance of “Carmen.” The opera, which will open the season on Sept. 9, 2017, will get an additional showcase on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, bringing its total presentations to seven. The opera will star Ana María Martinez in the title role. She will appear in all the performances and has noted that {…}
It’s festival season and many artists are performing in high profile concerts and productions while other are simply enjoying vacation time. This week on social media we’ll focus on Salzburg and Pesaro. Salzburg While Michele Mariotti is working hard on “I Due Foscari,” his wife Olga Peretyatko is enjoying vacation time after a fabulous season. She visited rehearsals of “Foscari” {…}
The Festival season continues with one of the most anticipated premieres slated to open. Austria That premiere, of course, is Anna Netrebko’s role debut as Aida at the Salzburg Festival. She will be accompanied by Riccardo Muti and Francesco Meli, who is also making his role debut as Radamès, with Ekaterina Semenchuk as Amneris. The festival will also continue runs {…}
The LA Opera simulcast is back and this year the company will bring the experience to the Los Angeles community on Sept. 23, 2017. With the help of the Los Angeles County and the Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles Opera will broadcast the evening’s performance of “Carmen” to the Santa Monica Pier and Exposition Park. The opera is set {…}