(Credit: Thomas Aurin/Arena di Verona) This weekend will feature the celebration of a major milestone for the living legend Plácido Domingo. But there are also a few fascinating productions around Europe (though to be fair, 80 percent of our choices are located in two countries) that you definitely have to check out if you have the chance. Médée – Salzburg Festival, {…}
Three new releases will be seen this week featuring some rarely performed works. La Donna Serpente Piero Pretti, Carmela Remigio, Erika Grimaldi, Francesca Sassu, Anna Maria Chiuri, and Roberto de Candia star in a Alfredo Casella’s opera conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Naxos releases the production from the Teatro Regio di Torino. Eduardo e Cristina Naxos releases the rarely performed Rossini {…}
The Teatro Verdi Trieste has announced its 2019-20 season featuring a number of new productions. The season opens with Puccini’s “Turandot” starring Mlada Khudoley, Marcelo Puente, Desirée Rancatore, and Andrea Comelli. Nikša Bareza conducts the production by legendary soprano Katia Ricciarelli. Performance Dates: Nov. 29-Dec. 8, 2019 Fabrizio Maria Carminati conducts Katia Ricciarelli’s production of Verdi’s “Aida.” The opera will star Anna Litvinova, Gianluca Terranova, Anastasia Boldyreva, and Andrea Borghini. {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2019-20 season featuring a number of productions and concerts. Opera Alex Esposito, Piero Pretti, Julian Kim, and Maria Agresta star in Verdi’s “Don Carlo.” Myung-Whun Chung conducts a production by Robert Carsen. Performance Dates: Nov. 24-Dec. 7, 2019 Enrico Calesso conducts a new production of Carlo Collodi’s “Pinocchio.” Gianmaria Aliverta directs the production in a new version with Silvia Frigato {…}
This weekend will be dedicated to favorites with some of the biggest singers performing signature roles. Turandot – Teatro Colón, Argentina Maria Guleghina stars in the title role of Puccini’s final work. The soprano appears alongside Verónica Cangemi, Kristian Benedikt, and legendary bass James Morris. Christian Badea conducts. Les Huguenots – Semperoper Dresden, Germany Venera Gimadieva and Jennifer Rowley make their highly anticipated {…}
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced its 2019-20 season featuring rarely staged works and some of the most popular in the repertory. Spontini’s “Fernando Cortez” opens the season with Fabio Luisi conducting the new production by Cecilia Ligorio. The production stars Dario Schmunck in the title role as well as Alexia Voulgaridou. Performance Dates: Oct. 12-23, 2019 Marina Comparato and Karina Demurova sin {…}
The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza has announced its 2019-20 season featuring a number of new productions and one world premiere. Opera Maria Teresa Leva, Lucrezia Drei, Azer Zada, Francesco Cascione, Stefano Marchisio, and Maharram Huseynov star in Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The opera, which opens the season, is set to be conducted by Aldo Sisillo with legendary baritone Leo Nucci directing the new production. Performance {…}
The Fondazione I Teatri Reggio Emilia has announced its 2019-20 season. Francesca Dotto takes on the title role in Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia” in a production by Andrea Bernard from the Donizetti Opera Festival. The cast will also include Marko Mimica, Francesco Castoro, and Varduhi Abrahamyan. Carla Delfrate conducts the production. Performance Dates: Dec. 6 & 8, 2019 The second production of the {…}
This week’s CD releases are full of some rather exciting offerings. On one hand, you get a chance to check out a Donizetti opera that seems to be getting some noteworthy re-evaluation from a number of festivals around the world, while the other major offering centers on a work by a modern master. Finally, a unique soprano will present music {…}
For a big chunk of the world, this weekend is all about the “Avengers: Endgame.” But that doesn’t mean there won’t be time to head over to the opera house. So here’s the five operas we highly recommend for opera lovers still planning on having their weekend dose of their favorite artform. Ariadne Auf Naxos – Teatro alla Scala, Italy {…}
The Donizetti Festival has announced its 2019 lineup featuring three operas with star-studded casts. Roberto De Candia headlines a new project of Donizetti’s “Pietro il Grande” with Loriana Castellano, Paola Gardina, Francisco Brito, and Marco Filippo Romano. Rinaldo Alessandrini conducts Ondadurto Teatro – Marco Paciotti e Lorenzo Pasquali’s new production. Performance Dates: Nov. 15-Dec. 1, 2019 Jean-Luc Tingaud conducts the first-ever production of {…}