(Credit: Julien Pohl) Belgian conductor Patrick Davin has died at the age of 58 on September 9, 2020, after suffering a heart attack before one of the rehearsals of the Jean-Luc Fafchamps’ pop-requiem “Is This the End?” at La Monnaie Opera House in Brussels. The former student of Pierre Boulez and Peter Eötvös, Davin was frequently invited to perform works {…}
(Credits: © Yiorgos Mavropoulos / Andreas Weiss) The Herbstgold Festival in Eisenstadt has announced its 2020 Edition. For the purposes of this article, we will focus only on vocal performances. The festival opens with a concert starring soprano Marlis Petersen, mezzo-soprano Anke Vondung, tenor Werner Güra, and bass Florian Boesch. The program includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 30 in C major {…}
The 69th Grenada Festival opened its 32-day extravaganza of music with a solemn performance of Mozart’s “Requiem” at the Granada Cathedral. Soloists soprano Katharina Konradi, countertenor Carlos Mena, tenor Xabier Anduaga and bass-baritone Carlos Álvarez joined the Grenada Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Andrea Marcon. The Archbishopric of Granda co-produced the performance with “la Caixa” Foundation. “la Caixa” {…}
(Credit: Timothy White for Decca) Wearing a shiny taupe gown that reflected minimized images of the lights above, soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Gerald Martin Moore entered to applause that showed they have fans in this desert city. They opened with a Valentine befitting February 14th: George Frideric Handel’s enticing “Bel Piacere è Godere.” Fleming followed its fast, tricky coloratura {…}
(Photo Credit: Dario Acosta) February 4, 2020, saw the latest installment of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series, with the evening’s recital featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau. The program, titled “Fauenliebe und –leben: Variations,” took Schumann’s song cycle and fleshed out a fuller narrative, using a breadth of musical works from other composers which spanned eight languages. {…}
(Image Source: Royal College of Music Facebook page) This season, the RCM Opera Studio will showcase a triple bill of French-language operas from Britten, Debussy and Ravel. The first work to be presented is the Britten’s contemplative song cycle “Les Illuminations” that features settings of Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry with a soprano soloist performing alongside string orchestra. RCM Opera Studio will {…}
(Credit: Oleg Rostovstev) Singing a recital in New York City is a rare occasion for an artist of any caliber. So, it is understandable that when a major opera star gets a chance to perform in one of the city’s hallowed halls, their choice of repertory would truly highlight their vocal and interpretative prowess. The idea of programming a recital {…}
Star Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava performed a recital program featuring art song compositions by Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Prokofiev sprinkled with a dramatic dash of Donizetti and Verdi on Nov. 1, 2019 at Carnegie Hall. Her appearance was not without controversy. To get to the main entrance, recital-goers needed to push past Pro-Ukrainian activists lining the sidewalk and holding placards in {…}
On June 4, the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage of Carnegie Hall was host to a musical feast, as performed by The MET Orchestra under the baton of its new conductor and music director, Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The evening’s program was comprised of works from French composers Debussy, Ravel, and Dutilleux, all of which allowed for an abundance of expression. With guest star {…}
Update: Due to illness, Hamaoui withdrew from this concert. In her stead, tenor Stéphane Sénéchal has stepped in to perform alongside Markham for the May 17 concert. They will perform music of Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, Poulenc, Hahn, Gounod, and more. The original story follows. Pianist Mark Markham will be a featured artists at the 2019 Spring Into Art Song Festival. {…}
Debussy’s masterwork “Pelléas et Mélisande” is one of the most glorious operas ever written. Its melodies are elusive, but when performed at its maximum expression, it can wrap you up and transport you to a different state in a way only few other operas can. It is truly a masterwork. The Metropolitan Opera produced the work for the first time {…}