La Monnaie / De Munt has announced that it will be streaming Britten’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’ on April 29, 2021. The opera will be directed by Andrea Breth and conducted by Ben Glassberg. The opera stars Ed Lyon, Sally Matthews, Thomas Heinen, Henri de Beauffort, Katharinia Bierweiler, Carole Wilson, Julian Hubbard, and Giselle Allen. “In this new production, {…}
“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This week, the focus is Herman Melville’s great unfinished novella “Billy Budd, Sailor” and Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” adapted from the work in 1951. Seventeen years {…}
The Britten Pears Arts has announced its reopening. Britten Pears Arts plans on reopening the Snape Maltings on May 21 while the Red House is set to reopen on May 20. The Aldeburgh Festival, which takes place at the Snape Maltings, however, will not be held this upcoming June. The British Center on the Suffolk coast noted in an official statement {…}
“Page to Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This second instalment looks at Henry James’ and Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw.” A governess is hired to look after two children by a distant {…}
(Credits: © Aymeric Giraudel / Seattle Symphony official website) Mezzo-sopranos Karine Deshayes and Delphine Haidan will give a recital at Opéra de Vichy on Feb. 19, 2021. The program for the concert includes the works by Adolpha Le Beau, Brahms, Strauss, Gounod, Delibes, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini. Due to the French government’s COVID-19 regulations, the concert will be held without {…}
(Credits: Opéra National de Paris official website / © Fazil Berisha / Simon Pauly) La Monnaie has announced an updated 2020-21 season that is expected to begin in February. Here is the look. Opera A semi-staged version of Mozart’s Opera “Der Schauspieldirektor” will feature Mieke de Groote, Achille Ridolfi, Dietrich Henschel, Marie-Aurore D’Awans, Nadine Baboy, Hervé Loka Sombo, Lenneke Ruiten, {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a film section or a film in its entirety and highlight 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 features the {…}
(Photo Credit: Marco Borggreve) The Staatsoper unter der Linden has announced that Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans will perform the role of Peter in Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” on Jan. 7, 2021. Oliemans will replace German baritone Roman Trekel. Oliemans will join a cast that includes Michaela Schuster in the role of Gertrud, Stephan Rügamer as the Wicked Witch, Natalia Skrycka {…}
San Francisco’s spring opera production of “Death in Venice” in 1975 was the real deal—the ingenious novella of German writer, Thomas Mann, turned into a haunting and exquisite opera by the English composer Benjamin Britten, libretto by Mfanwy Piper. The production was created by the remarkable Gerald Freedman, a well-known American theater and opera director, assistant not only to New {…}
(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, {…}
(Credits: Seattle Symphony official website / College of Fine Arts, University of Kentucky official website) American-Canadian tenor Zach Finkelstein has announced the release of his third album. The recording will be produced in a collaboration with the famed guitarist Dieter Hennings Yeoman and is slated for release in fall of 2021. Composers Felix Jarrar, Kamala Sankaram, Rene Orth, Daniel Pesca, {…}