Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča, Luca Salsi, Lisette Oropesa, Elena Stikhina, Asmik Grigorian Lead Salzburg Festival’s 2022 Season

(Credit: Anne Zeuner) The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2022 season, featuring eight operas, concerts, and international opera stars. For the purpose of this article we will focus on the vocal works only. Operas The season opens with Romeo Castellucci’s production of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The opera stars Mika Kares and Aušrinė Stundytė in the lead roles, alongside soprano {…}

Nov 8, 2021

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Family Donates Gift to Washington National Opera

(Credit: Karin Cooper) During the Washington National Opera’s 2021-22 season Opening Night gala, the company announced that Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family honored her love for the Washington National Opera with a gift of her piano. The gift also included the costume worn for her appearance in a WNO’s production of Donizetti’s “La fille du régiment” in 2016. The company was {…}

Nov 7, 2021

Washington National Opera 2021-22 Review: Come Home: A Celebration of Return

(Credit: Scott Suchman) On Nov. 6, the Washington National Opera opened its 2021-22 in celebratory fashion by showcasing a gala with five international artists. But it wasn’t just any old gala, it was particularly themed and carefully constructed. The evening was divided into three parts – the arts celebrating the return of opera and the artistic world after gloomy days {…}

Oct 27, 2021

Pretty Yende, Lawrence Brownlee & Isabel Leonard Lead Washington National Opera’s ‘Come Home: A Celebration of Return’

The Washington National Opera is set to present “Come Home: A Celebration of Return,” a program featuring internationally acclaimed stars including a mix of WNO favorites, and new faces. The concert will feature soloists Pretty Yende in her WNO debut, Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Cafritz Young Artist Alumna Alexandria Shiner. It will also include the highly anticipated mainstage debuts {…}

Sep 24, 2021

René Pape Leads Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Boris Godunov’ Revival

(Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera) On Sept. 28, the Metropolitan Opera is set to open Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.” The company will revive Stephen Wadsworth’s celebrated 2010 production which saw the Met perform the 1875 version of the opera. It was broadcast live in cinemas with critics noting the production was “coherent and strong.” This season the company has made modifications to {…}

Jun 21, 2021

Karine Deshayes, Sabine Devieilhe & Philippe Jaroussky Highlight Opéra de Rouen Normandie’s 2021-22 Season

(Credits: © Aymeric Giraudel / Fabien Monthubert / © Simon Fowler) Opéra de Rouen Normandie, France has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the operatic and vocal performances. Here is the full slate. Opera and Musicals Verdi‘s “Il Trovatore” opens the season with Lionel Lhote as Count di Luna, Brigitta Kele {…}

May 29, 2021

Glyndebourne Festival 2021 Review: Kat’a Kabanova

It is an under-appreciated coincidence that Janacek’s searing opera of bourgeois repressiveness and psychological collapse appears in the same year as fellow Moravian Sigmund Freud’s “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” and his study of “Mass Psychology” (they were, in fact, born mere miles apart). “Kat’a Kabanova” is a psychic drama of shame and self-hatred. As in Freud’s work, Janacek creates a {…}

May 13, 2021

Isabel Leonard, Pretty Yende, Michael Fabiano & J’Nai Bridges Headline Washington National Opera’s 2021-22 Season

The Washington National Opera has announced its 2021–2022 season featuring four world premiere commissions celebrating the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary and several debuts from acclaimed and rising opera stars. The season opens with “Come Home: A Celebration of Return,” a concert performance of opera excerpts highlighting liberty and artistic idealism, themes embraced by John F. Kennedy and featuring a musical tribute {…}

Jan 12, 2021

Matthew Polenzani, Tomasz Konieczny, Elizabeth Caballero Lead Staatsoper Stuttgart Revised 2020-21 Season

(Credits: Rebecca Fay / Tomasz Konieczny official website / Suzanne Vinnik / Staatsoper unter der Linden official website) The Staatsoper Stuttgart has announced its redesigned 2020-21 season, running from Feb. 21, 2021, until July 21, 2021. Here is the full slate. Operas Maurice Ravel’s “Verzauberte Welt” will feature Schorsch Kamerun, Diana Haller, Alexandra Urquiola, Maria Theresa Ullrich, Carina Schmieger, Claudia {…}

Sep 23, 2020

Met Opera 2021-22 Season: Here Is All The Information For This Season’s Live in HD Performances

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the HD schedule for its 2021-22 season, which will feature 10 performances. Here is a full breakdown. Oct. 9, 2021 – Boris Godunov René Pape headlines a cast that includes Alexey Markov, Stanislav Trofimov, David Butt Philip, Ain Anger, and Maxim Paster. Sebastian Weigle conducts. The opera will be presented in its original 1869 version. {…}

Aug 10, 2020

Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak, Lise Davidsen, Damien Geter, Lead Top 10 Operas to Stream This Week

We are deep into the summer, but opera has not stopped. We are getting live performances throughout Europe and still getting full slates of online opera offerings. So for this week’s recommendations, we are looking at a wide range of options, including a few classic works, a recital from two major opera stars, and a lot of new operas. As {…}