John Moore, Monica Zanettin, Michał Sławecki, Diana Alexe, Kangmin Justin Kim & Daniel Brenna Lead Finnish National Opera’s 2026-27 Season

The Finnish National Opera has announced its 2026-27 season. New Productions Monica Zanettin and Liana Aleksanyan lead Verdi’s “Aida” Giorgi Sturua, Milen Bozhkov, Emilia Rukavina, Tuija Knihtilä, Tuomas Pursio, Samuli Takkula, Don Lee, Young-Doo Park, Volodymyr Tyshkov, and Koit Soasepp. Noa Naamat directs the production and Dan Ettinger and Harri Karri conduct. Performance Dates: August 28, 2026 – Oct. 1, 2026 Kevin {…}

Mar 21, 2026

Finnish National Opera to Showcase Finnish Premiere of ‘Festen’

The Finnish National Opera is set to present “Festen” by composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Lee Hall. The production by Richard Jones, which first opened at the Royal Opera House in London in February 2025 to critical acclaim, will star Darren Jeffery, Susan Bickley, Daniel Brenna, John Chest and Natalya Romaniw. They will be joined by Georgia Jarman, Kirsi Tiihonen and Robert Bork. James Hendry {…}

Dec 2, 2024

Frederica Von Stade, Philippe Jaroussky, Franco Corelli, Asmik Grigorian & Nicole Car Lead Cyber Monday New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. It’s about the holidays so this week there is a new Christmas album as well as a final recording by one of the great mezzos of her time, a re-release of a classic recording, a new recording of Massenet’s work, and many baroque {…}

May 9, 2023

Jarrett Ott, Amina Edris & Daniel Brenna Lead Opéra de Lille’s 2023-24 Season

The Opéra de Lille has announced its 2023-24 season celebrating its 100th anniversary. Opera Jarrett Ott sings the title role of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni“ alongside James Platt, Emőke Baráth, Eric Ferring, Chiara Skerath, Vladyslav Buialskyi, Sergio Villegas, and Marie Lys. Emmanuelle Haïm conducts the production by Guy Cassiers. Performance Dates: Oct. 5-15, 2023 Daniel Brenna and Annemarie Kremer star in {…}

Apr 5, 2023

Joyce El-Khoury, Vladimir Stoyanov, Daniel Brenna, Johanna Rusanen, Hye-Youn Lee Headline Finnish National Opera & Ballet’s 2023-24 Season

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has announced its 2023-24 season. First up is “Das Lied von der Erde” with mezzo-soprano Tuija Knihtilä and tenor Tuomas Katajala as the soloists. Ville Matvejeff conducts. Performance Date: August 3, 2023 Hannu Lintu conducts Verdi’s “Requiem” with soprano Silja Aalto, tenor Mika Pohjonen, mezzo Maiju Vaahtoluoto, and bass Matti Turunen as the soloists. {…}

Feb 15, 2023

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino 2022-23: Doktor Faust

Photo credit: Michele Monasta There was a lovely old lady, clearly a regular at Maggio, sitting next to me, who, during the change of the scene, quietly asked, “is it an interval already?” “No, another half of an hour,” I replied. She only sighed in response. There was also a stylish man in his 40s, who stood up twice during {…}

Jun 3, 2022

Corinne Winters, Lucio Gallo, Federica Lombardi & Atalla Ayan Lead Staatsoper Stuttgart’s 2022-23 Season

The Staatsoper Stuttgart has announced its 2022-23 season Premieres “Liebstod” from concept by Johannes Müller and Philine Rinnert will be performed. Performance Dates: Sept. 23-25, 2022 Wagner’s “Siegfried” will star Daniel Brenna, Matthias Klink, Tommi Hakala, David Steffens, Beate Ritter, Stine Marie Fischer, and Simone Schneider. Cornelius Meister conducts the production by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito. Performance Dates: Oct. 9, {…}

Apr 1, 2022

Finnish National Opera Announces 2022-23 Season

The Finnish National Opera has announced its 2022-23 Season featuring new productions and classic opera. Here is a look at the opera productions for the season. “Between” features music by Kaija Saariaho, Matias Vestergård, and Sebastian Hilli. Clément Mao-Takacs conducts a cast that includes Thomas Kellner, Tuuli Lindeberg, and Peter Herresthal. Performance Dates: August 31-Sept. 3, 2022 “CircOpera 2.0″ will {…}

Jun 4, 2021

Angela Gheorghiu, Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel Lead Opéra de Monte-Carlo’s 2021-22 Season

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo has announced its 2021-22 season featuring concerts, recitals, and operatic productions. Angela Gheorghiu opens the season in a recital with pianist Jeff Cohen. The program will include works by Durante, Paisiello, Bellini, Donizetti, Tosti, Respighi, Schumann, R. Strauss, Rachmaninov, Rameau, Martini, Debussy, Massenet, Brediceanu, Stephanescu, Flotow, and Satie. Performance Date: Oct. 8, 2021 Aleksandra Kurzak leads {…}

Apr 4, 2021

San Francisco Opera Virtual Review 2021: Götterdämmerung

The beauty of “Götterdämmerung” is not only that it is the artful conclusion to the massive cycle of thoughts, ideas, story, and feelings that are its previous operas, but that it is its own lift to all that precedes it. Love and lust, jealousy and power, greed and hate, infinity and finitude, community and individualism – all take their place {…}

Mar 25, 2021

San Francisco Opera Virtual Review 2021 : Siegfried

In the 2018 San Francisco version of Francisca Zambello’s “Siegfried,” we get a touching side of the evolving picture Wagner depicts throughout The Ring cycle. Here is the hero-to-be, Siegfried, son of the coupling of Siegmund and Sieglinde, deep in his forest home, with his parental surrogate, Mime. The encounter we witness at the start is full of baiting and {…}