The Festival Valle d’itria Martina Franca has announced its revised 2020 edition. Opera The first work of the season will be “Il borghese gentiluomo” with music by Richard Strauss. The work based on a comedy by Moliere will star Stefano Massini and Davide Gasparro sharing the title role alongside Vittorio Prato, Ana Victoria Pitts, Barbara Massaro, Manuel Amati, Nico Franchini, {…}
In Art Academy has announced a number of masterclasses with some of opera’s greatest stars. Starting on May 18, singers will get a chance to work with such artists as Damiano Michieletto, Paolo Fantin, Francesco Meli, Luca Salsi, Carmela Remigio, Alex Esposito, and Lisette Oropesa in both individual and group masterclasses. For singers, there will be a cap of five {…}
The Theater an der Wien has announced its 2020-21 season featuring 13 new productions, chamber opera, and opera in concert. Productions The season opens with Leoncavallo’s “Zazà” starring Svetlana Aksenova in the title role, Nikolai Schukoff, Christopher Maltman, Dorothea Herbert, and Enkelejda Shkosa. Stefan Soltész conducts the new production by Christof Loy. Performance Dates: Sept. 16-27, 2020 Wayne Marshall conducts {…}
Credit: Spinto/Javier del Real/Nicola Allegri/Julian Hargraves/ Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical While the continued quarantine is undoubtedly becoming increasingly challenging for many, there is some relief in knowing that there is opera to check out on a daily basis. What’s more the offerings are becoming increasingly diverse in their range of repertory and content, which allows opera audiences to curate unique {…}
The Donizetti Opera Festival has announced the “Gran Gala sul Sofa.” Presented by the festival’s director Francesco Micheli and Music Director Riccardo Frizza, the gala will be showcased on Facebook on April 24 at 6 p.m. Italian time. The performed will be structured as televised talk and a live concert with a number of opera stars from their apartments and {…}
The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza has closed due to the Coronavirus. The company announced that due to orders from the Minister of Health in cooperation with the President of the Emilia-Romagna region, all planned activity at the theater would be closed until March 1, 2020. The company was set to present a new production of Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia” on Feb. {…}
(Credit: Michael Pohn/© A. Bofill) This weekend is all about the star power, new productions and standard repertory that will showcase important role debuts. Here is a look. Lohengrin – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Piotr Beczala sings one of his signature roles with a cast that includes Ain Anger, Cornelia Beskow, Egils Silins, Linda Watson, and Boaz Daniel. The production by {…}
(Credit: Moritz Schell Fotografie/Catherine Ashmore/Yasuko Kageyama / TOR) Three rarely performed works highlight the international weekend with three other repertory staples. There are also two new productions opening with one company premiere. Here is a look at what we recommend. Halka – Theater an der Wien, Austria Łukasz Borowicz conducts a new production of Moniuszko’s masterpiece. Mariusz Treliński directs the {…}
(Credit: Gianfranco Rota) “Lucrezia Borgia” is perhaps one of Donizetti’s most dramatic operas with arguably some of the most unlikeable characters in the artform. However, it ranks as one of his most inventive and one of his most compelling. The music which brings audiences a step closer to early Verdi, sees Donizetti in experimental mode with some of the traditional {…}
This weekend its all about star performances, repertory staples, new productions and a season opening. Check out what we believe you need to see. Eugene Onegin Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Marina Rebeka continues the run in her first Tatiana alongside a star cast that includes Boris Pinkhasovich in the title role, Pavol Breslik as Lenski and Ferruccio Furlanetto as Gremin. The {…}
This week two essential releases will be made available. The first comes one of the great tenors of his generations and the other is a Donizetti compilation for Bel Canto lovers. Romantique Dmitry Korchak releases his latest album on streaming platforms and CD via Decca. The new album includes arias from Bizet, Donizetti, Gounod, Rossini and Massenet. Patrick Fournillier conducta {…}