(Photo: Nikola Milatovic) To speak of Austria as the land of music could be dismissed as a media cliché, a postcard trope engineered for cultural tourism. Yet, experiencing the Styriarte Festival shatters this skepticism entirely. Even in an era where cultural budgets across Europe face systematic contraction, the festival’s curation maintains an outstanding level of detail, immersive hospitality, and uncompromising {…}
Oper Köln has announced its 2026-27 season. Premieres The first new production of the year will be Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” with Magdalena Hinterdobler, Ann-Beth Solvang, Patrick Zielke, Martin Summer, Bianca Andrew, KS Miljenko Turk, Giulia Montanari, Elsa Benoit, Young Woo Kim, and Dmitry Ivanchey. Marie-Ève Signeyrole directs and Felix Bender and Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 27-Dec. 20, 2026 {…}
(Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) A new production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” is always a big deal, given the imaginative and actual scale of the work and the special aura that surrounds it – a triumph of Bayreuth marketing, truly, to try and restrict its performances for so many years. But this new staging at Glyndebourne Festival Opera signals the first time {…}
Oper Köln has announced its 2025-26. Premieres Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” will get a new production featuring Carolina López Moreno, Insik Choi, Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger, Gaston Rivero, and Young Woo Kim. Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Arne Willimczik conduct the new production by Carlos Wagner. Performance Dates: Sept. 28-Oct. 19, 2025 Marc Albrecht conducts Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” with Paul-Georg Dittrich directing a new {…}
The Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart has announced the first “Bach and Latin America: Internationales Bachfest Stuttgart” to take place March 9-23. For the purposes of this article, only vocal works are included. “Bach and Latin America” begins with Ariel Ramírez’s ‘Creole Mass.” Soloists are mezzo-soprano Cecilia Fontaine and baritone Matías Bocchio. Lydia Schimmer conducts. Performance Date: March 9, 2025 Sopranos Miriam {…}
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced its 2025 season. New Productions The season will see the company’s first-ever production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” directed by Jetske Mijnssen. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a cast that includes Daniel Johansson as Parsifal and mezzo-soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Kundry. Performance Dates: May 17 – June 24, 2025 Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” {…}
The Enescu Festival has confirmed its 2021 season. The festival held in Bucharest, Romania will run from August 28 to Sept. 26 and will include five operas among other programming. There will also be COVID-safety measures implemented to ensure the safety of all audience members. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Ondřej Adámek’s Song cycle. Magdalena Kožená {…}
(Credit: Paul Schirnhofer/DG/Chris Singer) The Musikverein Wien has announced its 2020-21 Season featuring a number of great stars. For this article of the Austrian concert hall, vocal performances have been highlighted. Michael Havlicek joins the Philharmonia Schrammeln for “Schlawi(e)nerisches.” Performance Date: Oct. 6, 2020 Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. Oratorium with soloists Christiane Karg, Benjamin Bruns, and Florian Boesch. Performance {…}