Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly has joined the RCM’s Vocal and Opera Faculty and will commence one-to-one teaching in September 2024. As an alumna of the school, Connolly’s relationship with the Royal College of Music spans many years and was made a Fellow of the College in 2008. She has also given masterclasses to vocal and opera students as well as {…}
(Credit: Allan Warren) The Gran Teatre del Liceu is set to celebrate Victoria de Los Angeles’ centenary. The company will hold a gala on Nov. 7, 2023 which will revisit the core repertoire of the undisputed soprano. The gala, which is curated by Marc Busquets, artistic director of LIFE Victoria Barcelona, will feature soloists Maria Agresta, Louise Alder, Dame Sarah {…}
(Photo credit: Marco Borggreve, Christopher Pledger, & Robert Workman) The recently updated 200-seat chamber hall at Pembroke College Cambridge welcomes baritone Sir Simon Keenlyside on Oct. 5 and mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly on Nov. 1. Keenlyside opens the Bliss International Song Series with Schubert’s “Winterreise.” Connolly follows with selections by Brahms, Mahler, Frank Bridge, and Edmund Rubbra. Artistic Director Joseph {…}
And we’re back for this week’s edition of the major CD and DVD releases on offer. Those looking for legendary performances will be thrilled by some of this week’s releases. But there are also two solo albums of great interest. Let’s check it out. Mahler Pioneers SOMM RECORDINGS announces “Mahler Pioneers,” a major addition to the Mahler catalog with the {…}
The Oxford International Song Festival has unveiled the schedule for its 2023 season. Kicking off the festival will be “Quiet Music: A Draw-Along,” featuring mezzo-soprano Bethany Horak-Hallet, pianist Natalie Burch, and Julia Thaxton. The program includes works by Schubert, Clara Schumann, and Hildegard von Bingen, among others. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2023 Soprano Soraya Mafi will be joined by such {…}
The Wigmore Hall has announced its 2023-24 season headlining some of the greatest recitalists and vocalist in the world. Opera Rara: present Donizetti and Friends with Lawrence Brownlee, Etienne Dupuis, and Carlo Rizzi. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Asmik Grigorian and Lukas Geniušas perform Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Ensemble Modern and George Benjamin perform music by {…}
(Photo: ENO/Helen Murray) One wonders what Bruges ever did to Georges Rodenbach. His 1892 novella “Bruges-la-Morte” pumps the city full of a repressive religious and psychosexual fog. Its gloomy streets represent a labyrinth of grief, recrimination, and sexual guilt trodden by Paul, the protagonist of Erich Korngold’s 1920 opera “Die tote Stadt,” here billed and sung in English at the {…}
The London Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2023-24 season. For this article, here is a look at the vocal performances. Barbara Hannigan and Fleur Barron lead a concert that includes music by Haydn, Strauss, Ligeti, Luigi Nono, and Claude Vivier. Performance Dates: Sept. 14 & 17, 2023 Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” will be conducted by Barbara Hannigan. The concert will also {…}
Conductor Oliver Zeffman’s 2022 immersive concert series “Music x Museums” will be released on Apple Music as an audio-visual album. Live performances which took place in some of the UK’s most iconic museums including Live at the V&A, vol 2, Live at the British Library, Live at the Science Museum, and Live at the Cutty Sark which were recorded in {…}
The Oxford Lieder Festival has announced its 21st season. The season opens with “Culture, Counterculture, and Conviviality,” a two-part event that features a look at the salon culture, followed by a more specific look at that music world through Pauline Viardot’s own involvement. The event features speaker Natasha Loges and such artists as Charlotte Bowden, Alexandria Moon, Zahid Siddiqui, Johnathan {…}
The Orquesta y el Coro de RTVE in Spain has announced its 2022-23 season. The season will be themed “Raices” and will feature a number of vocal performances highlighted here: Pablo González conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Stefanie Irany. Performance Dates: Oct. 6 & 7, 2022 Pablo González conducts Nuria Núñez Hierro’s ‘Enjambres’ and Leos Janácek’s “Mass” with Gun-Brit {…}