(Photo by : Herwig Prammer) In 1857, when the Teatro San Carlo in Naples commissioned a new opera from Giuseppe Verdi, he selected a libretto by Antonio Somma, inspired by the real-life assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden. The king was shot in 1792 by political opponents during a masked ball at the Stockholm Opera. Somma added a romantic {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2025 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Opera Bas Wiegers conducts Michael Jarrell’s “Kassandra” with actress Dagmar Manzel and the Ensemble Modern. Performance Date: July 23, 2025 Salvatore Sciarrino’s “Macbeth” will be conducted by Vimbayi Kaziboni. Cody Quattlebaum, Alice Rossi, Leonardo Cortellazzi, Iris van Wijnen, and Davide Giangregorio. Performance Date: July 25, {…}
Deutsche Grammophon’s Stage + is set to present three vocal performances in October. First, the Georg Solti Accademia will present a star-studded gala at the Hungarian State Opera and will feature Aigul Akhmetshina, Freddie De Tommaso, Hera Hyesang Park, and Paul Grant, all alumni of the Georg Solti Accademia’s Bel Canto Course for Singers. This is the first time these four {…}
(Credit: ©Musa) The XXIII Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra is set to open with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia on Oct. 23, 2024. The concert will be conducted by Daniel Harding at the Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura. Harding will conduct Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem” with soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Yulia Matochkina, Charles Castronovo, and {…}
(Photo: Arts Fotografía) Palau de Les Arts opened the season with Massenet’s “Manon,” in a production from the Paris Opera, and two international stars in the main roles: Lisette Oropesa and Charles Castronovo. Vincent Huguet directed the Paris Opera production. He set the action in Paris around 1920, in the Charleston era, and introduced the revolutionary artist Josephine Baker (who {…}
Met audiences will cheerfully remember last season’s run of “Un Ballo in Maschera” when Charles Castronovo’s signature chiaroscuro repeatedly proved the very backbone of his vocal physiognomy. “Noble Renegades,” for Delos Productions, purportedly builds on established strengths; but by dwelling mostly on (quasi-)stock characters from Verdi’s early to mid-career, the New York tenor outfits the recording’s 19 tracks with {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences get to hear a new album by one of opera’s leading tenors and watch a video of one of Donizetti’s comic gems featuring a leading soprano and a superstar bass-baritone. Voices from the Other Side The new work from composer {…}
On July 21, 2024, the Teatro Real de Madrid is set to stream Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” on My Opera Player. The opera will be shown in a production by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Ailyn Pérez will star in the title role alongside Charles Castronovo as Pinkerton. Lucas Meachem will sing the role of Sharpless and Nino Surguladze will {…}
The Opus Klassik Awards have announced its 2024 winners. The Female Singer of the Year went to Anna Prohaska for “Maria Mater Meretrix,” while the Male Singer of the Year went to Konstantin Krimmel for Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin.” The Conductor of the Year award went to Klaus Mäkelä for Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring & The Firebird,” while the {…}
When the Bayerische Staatsoper opens Kornél Mundruczó’ s new production of “Tosca” this week, it will feature two role debuts. One of those will belong to tenor Charles Castronovo. Even if this is the U.S. singer’s his first Cavaradossi, he’s no stranger to Puccini’s repertory. Over the years he has performed Rodolfo in “La Bohème” as well as Ruggero in {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper is set to perform a new production of Puccini’s “Tosca” in a new production by Kornél Mundruczó. Eleonora Buratto will take on the title role making her role debut. She will be joined by Charles Castronovo for the eight performances in May and June, and Jonas Kaufmann for the three remaining performances in July as Cavaradossi. Ludovic {…}