(Photo Credit: The Bach Choir) The Bach Choir announces its 2025-26 and 150th anniversary season. Musical Director David Hill MBE leads the Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra. The season opens with Mahler’s “Symphony” No. 8. Soloists April Fredrick, Zoe Jackson, Caroline Bourg, Hanna Hipp, Hayley Meth, Brenden Gunnell, Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, and Derek Welton are also joined by the London Youth {…}
(Photo credit: Thalhammer & Pledger) The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced its lineup for the 2024-25 season. This article only features vocal works. Soprano Mary Bevan opens the season with a program of works by Schubert. Edward Gardner conducts. Performance Date: July 17, 2024 Soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Nicky Spence, and baritone Jonathan Lemalu serves {…}
Photo: Winslow Townson The first time my partner watched Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” he couldn’t believe that the composer ever thought a Stalinist regime would be pleased with the opera. The “in-your-face” power of the work made him—a (handsome) man whose political convictions ponder between socialism and cowboyism—find endearing that ‘Shosta’ could not see his censoring coming. Even today, {…}
Italy’s Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2021-22 season featuring 11 operatic productions and several vocal concerts. Here is a look. Opera Sesto Quatrini conducts Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” which is set to star Monica Zanettin in the title role, Manuela Custer as Suzuki, Vincenzo Costanzo as Pinkerton, and Alberto Mastromarino as Sharpless. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-22, 2021 Antonio Poli sings {…}
(Credit: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale official website) Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is a look at the operatic and vocal performances. Soprano Amanda Forsythe, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, tenor Brenden Gunnell, and bass Joshua Bloom present Schumann’s “Requiem” alongside conductor Richard Egarr and violinist Shunske Sato. Performance dates: Oct. 14 – 17, 2021 Performances {…}
(Credits: Gregor Hohenberg/Sony / Chris Singer / Rebecca Fay / Artists Management Zürich official website) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced the full slate for its 2020-21 free streaming season. Here is the look. Walter Braunfels’ “Die Vögel” will feature Wolfgang Koch, Günter Papendell, Caroline Wettergreen, Emily Pogorelc, Yajie Zhang, Eliza Boom, Bálint Szabó, Theodore Platt, George Vîrban, Charles Workman, and {…}
(Credits: Rosetta Greek / Lena Kern) The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a full program of the series of socially-distanced indoor performances that will take place in Sussex, starting October 10, 2020. The Festival has announced that it will deploy a set of stringent COVID-19 safety rules, including strict social distancing, using uncirculated air to heat the auditorium, providing sanitizing stations {…}
(Credit: Clive Barda) OperaVision will showcase the Garsington Opera production of Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” on Nov. 29, 2019. The famed opera will star Natalya Romaniw, Brenden Gunnell, Joshua Bloom, Stuart Jackson, Peter Savidge, Heather Shipp, Paul Whelan, Anne-Marie Owens, Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts, and Lara Marie Müller. Jac van Steen conducts a production directed by Paul Curran. The stream kicks off {…}
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on vocal performances. The season will open with a concert led by Frank-Steffen Elster featuring the GewandhausJugendchor. They will perform works by Clara and Robert Schumann, Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2019 Elster will lead the GewandhausJugendchor, and {…}