Jessica Pratt, Carmen Giannattasio, Anastasia Bartoli & Juliana Grigoryan Lead Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s 2025 Season

The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has announced its 2025 season. Opera The season opens with Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” with Riccardo Frizza conducting a cast that includes Carmen Giannattasio, Angelo Villari, and Claudio Sgura. Paul Curran directs. Another cast includes Ann Petersen, Amadi Lagha, and Gustavo Castillo. Performance Dates: Jan. 24-30, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Giovanni Sala, Marko Mimica, and Lucas Meachem lead Donizetti’s {…}

Aug 15, 2024

Salzburg Festival 2024 Review: Don Giovanni

( Photo: © SF/Monika Rittershaus) All sinful things come wrapped in fascinating aesthetics. You know the feeling: something that is extremely beautiful and appealing, but disquieting—too pleasurable to be ethically good. That is Salzburg Festival’s “Don Giovanni”: a spectacular dramatic installation, a grandiose musical project, a lustful conception; yet sinfully wrong. First things first. This is a revival of Romeo {…}

Jul 28, 2024

Film Festival auf dem Wiener Rathausplatz to Screen “Manon Lescaut’ Starring Anna Netrebko

On July 28, 2024, the Wiener Staatsoper is set to present Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” at the Film Festival auf dem Wiener Rathausplatz. The recording, filmed in November 2023, will be screened at 9:15 and showcases a production by Robert Carsen conducted by Jader Bignamini. Anna Netrebko stars in the title role alongside tenor Joshua Guerrero as Des Grieux. Davide Luciano {…}

Jun 11, 2024

Nino Machaidze, Gregory Kunde, Saioa Hernández & Davide Lucano Lead Teatro Regio di Parma’s 2025 Season

The Teatro Regio di Parma has announced its 2025 season. Verdi’s “Giovanna d’Arco” opens the season with Luciano Ganci, Nino Machaidze, and George Petean. Michele Gamba conducts the production by Emma Dante. Performance Dates: Jan. 24-Feb. 1, 2025 Pier Luigi Pizzi’s production of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” returns with Davide Luciano, Maria Kataeva, Ruzil Gatin, Roberto de Candia, and {…}

May 29, 2024

Anna Netrebko, Cecilia Bartoli, Pretty Yende, Jonas Kaufmann, Roberto Alagna & Benjamin Bernheim Lead Opéra de Monte-Carlo’s 2024-25 Season

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo has announced its 2024-25 season. Festival Centenaire Puccini Giacomo Sagripanti conducts Puccini’s “La Rondine“ in Concert. Pretty Yende, Charles Castronovo, Deanna Breiwick, Juan Francisco Gatell, and Roberto de Candia. Performance Date: Oct. 30, 2024 Anna Netrebko, Nino Machaidze, Mariam Battistelli, Yusif Eyvazov, and Florian Sempey lead Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Biagio Pizzuti, Giorgi Manoshvili, and Matteo Peirone {…}

Apr 18, 2024

Irina Lungu, Nicola Alaimo, Vittorio Grigolo, Arturo Chacón-Cruz & Lianna Haroutounian Lead Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège’s 2024-25 Season

The Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Giampaolo Bisanti conducting a production by Thaddeus Strassberger. Irina Lungu, Dmitry Korchak, and Simone Piazzola star. Performance Dates: Sept. 13-24, 2024 Leoš Janáček’s “Kát’a Kabanová” will star Anush Hovhannisyan, Anton Rositskiy, Nino Surguladze, Sergei Skorokhodov, Jana Kurucová, Dmitry Cheblykov, {…}

Oct 14, 2023

Wiener Staatsoper to Livestream Anna Netrebko’s ‘Manon Lescaut’

The Wiener Staatsoper is set to livestream Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” The stream will be held on Nov. 8 and will star Anna Netrebko in the title role, Davide Luciano as Lescaut, Joshua Guerrero as the Des Grieux, and Evgeny Solodovnikov as Geronte. Jader Bignamini will conduct the production by Robert Carsen. Netrebko first performed the Wiener Staatsoper production in 2016 {…}

Jul 30, 2023

Jonathan Tetelman, Maria Agresta, Nina Stemme, Yusif Eyvazov Lead Teatro Massimo di Palermo’s 2023-24 Season

The Teatro Massimo di Palermo has announced its 2023-24 season. Opera The season opens with Bellini’s “I Capuleti e Montecchi.” Omer Meir Wellber conducts the production by Idan Cohen. The cast includes Maria Kataeva and Anna Pennisi as Romeo and Marina Monzó and Francesca Pia Vitale as Giulietta. Ioan Hotea, Mert Süngü, Marco Spotti, and Gabriele Sagona round out the {…}

Apr 16, 2023

Cecilia Bartoli, Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Netrebko, Lisette Oropesa & Juan Diego Flórez Lead Wiener Staatsoper’s 2023-24 Season

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the 2023-24 season featuring new productions, revivals, and concerts. Premieres The company will showcase Tatjana Gürbaca’s production of “Il Trittico.” For “Il Tabarro,” audiences will hear Carlos Álvarez, Anja Kampe, and Joshua Guerrero. Headlining “Suor Angelica” will be Eleonora Buratto and Michaela Schuster. Finally, for “Gianni Schicchi,” the headliners including Carlos Álvarez, Serena Sáenz, Michaela {…}

Jan 12, 2023

Metropolitan Opera 2022-23 Review: L’Elisir d’Amore

(Credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) Last month the Metropolitan Opera opened its final run of Sonja Frisell’s legendary “Aida” staging. The production, which opened in 1988, remains somewhat of a splendor for its lush and detailed sets. As I noted in my recent review, I have never been the biggest fan of this particular mise-en-scène, but on this revival, {…}

Jul 17, 2022

Teatro Di San Carlo 2021-22 Review: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Opera is going through a transition with companies trying to modernize works in order to bring younger audiences and bring the art form into the modern world. In some cases, it works and in other cases, it becomes a mere distraction that puts a concept up front and places the work and its music in the background. For the Teatro {…}

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