Welcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world. This week, audiences will get to see a new production of “Nabucco” with a great diva, while another great mezzo releases a new album. There is also a world premiere recording of an opera from the Metropolitan Opera. Here are the new releases of {…}
(Photo: Nancy Jesse) Few works have suffered more persistently from the legacy of Orientalist fantasy than Handel’s “Giulio Cesare in Egitto.” Ever since Columbia University academic Edward Said published “Orientalism” in 1978, the intellectual foundations underpinning Europe’s imaginative construction of “the East” have been subjected to relentless and often persuasive scrutiny. Said demonstrated that Orientalism was never merely an artistic {…}
Following a very disappointing production of Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” the day before, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées presented a one-night-only concert version of Handel’s “Ariodante” on June 7, conducted by Andrea Marcon. To begin with, it must be acknowledged that the La Cetra Barockorchester Basel performed Handel’s highly melodious, harmonious, and expressive score very well. A sense {…}
Innsbruck Festival of Early Music announces its 50th season. This article only features vocal events. Ottavio Dantone leads the Accademia Bizantina Ensemble in a workshop concert. Performance Date: July 25, 2026 Lauren Lodge-Campbell, Nicolò Balducci, and Jonathan Eyers perform alongside Il Gusto Barocco Ensemble under the direction of Jörg Halubek. Performance Date: August 1, 2026 Anna Bonitatibus gives a masterclass. {…}
(Photo credits: Acosta, Brown, Simpson, Adjahoe) Philadelphia Orchestra announces its 2026-27 season. This article only features vocal concerts. Opening night features soloists Leah Hawkins, J’Nai Bridges, Issachah Savage, and Ryan Speedo Green in Beethoven “Symphony” No. 9. They are joined by the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir led by Joe Miller. The U.S. premiere of Hisaishi’s “Orbis” is also slated. Yannick Nézet-Séguin {…}
(Photo Credit: © Lukasz Rajchert) The Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival has announced its seventh edition, running Sept. 4–13, 2026. Händel’s “Floridante” receives six performances as a co-production with the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and the International Handel Festival Karlsruhe. Artistic Director Max Emanuel Cencic stages and sings the title role with Eva Zalenga, Sonja Runje, Bruno de Sá, Pavel Kudinov, and {…}
The Palau de la Música de Valencia has announced its 2025-26 season. Magdalena Lucjan, Stefanie Iranyi, Benjamin Bruns, and Franz-Josef Selig star in Mozart’s Requiem with Alexander Liebreich. The concert also includes Lutosławski’s Musique funèbre. Performance Date: Nov. 7, 2025 Jordi Bernàcer conducts Verdi’s Requiem with Carmen Solís, Ana Ibarra, Sergio Escobar, and Marko Mimica. Performance Date: Nov. 14, 2025 {…}
The Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe has announced its 2025-26 season. Premiere Rameau’s “Les Boréades” will star Ralitsa Ralinova, Anastasiya Taratorkina, Mathias Vidal, Ks. Konstantin Gorny, Ks. Tomohiro Takada, Kihun Yoon, Sébastian Monti, Martha Eason, Ks. Armin Kolarczyk, Oğulcan Yılmaz, and Michael Metzler. Attilio Cremonesi conducts the new production by Christoph von Bernuth. Performance Dates: Oct. 4, 2025-March 7, 2026 Konstantin Gorny, {…}
(Foto: Monika Rittershaus / Courtesy of Opernhaus Zürich) George Frideric Händel composed “Agrippina” during his Italian tour, a work that marked a pivotal moment in his career. It solidified his grasp of Italian opera, represented his first genuine operatic triumph, and remains the earliest of his operas for which the complete score has survived intact. The libretto, written by Cardinal {…}
(Photo credit: Mark Allan) The English Concert announces the details of its spring 2025 spring season. Soprano Lucy Crowe performs a program of works by Handel and Corelli, under the baton of The English Concert’s founder, Trevor Pinnock. Performance Date: January 30, 2025 (Wigmore Hall) Up next sopranos Isabel Schicketanz and Joanna Songi, mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot, tenor Samuel Boden, and {…}
(Photo Credit : Klara Beck) The Strasbourg Opera in collaboration with the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden and the Lausanne Opera is offering Handel’s “Ariodante” from November 6th-13th. The production will then go to Mulhouse on November 22nd and 24th. On closer inspection, this drama per musica announces many of the operas to come to amateurs. Thus, its three-act {…}