(Credits: Andreas Schager official website / Polina Plotnikova) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that heldentenor Andreas Schager and Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov will take part in the New Year Gala concert on Jan. 2, 2021. Schager and Vinogradov will join a cast that includes Sara Jakubiak, Anna Pirozzi, Aigul Akhmetshina, and Amartuvshin Enkhbat. The Australian-born Kapellmeister of the Deutsche {…}
Thirty years ago, in June 1990, opera lovers were glued to their television screens for four consecutive weekday evenings as they experienced what Richard Wagner always intended: a consecutive-evening presentation of “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” Of course, his wish for four nights in a row was not realistic for the stage, given the demands it would place on musicians and {…}
Opera Australia has announced that it will be postponing its hotly anticipated production of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” until 2021 due to continued concerns over COVID-19. The production, which was originally scheduled for November 2020, will be directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and was to be the first fully digital staging of the famed tetralogy. “As disheartening as this news is, {…}
(Credit: Bonnie Perkinson) Never mind one week—how about one day? Listeners looking for a one-day immersion in Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” are in for a treat when Los Angeles Opera streams all four music dramas on Saturday, July 25 beginning at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT. The webcast will be available at LAOpera.org/LAOatHome. The stream continues musical offerings the {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox / Dan Steinberg) Los Angeles Opera has announced its latest set of performances as part of its LAO at Home series. Kicking things off will be a living room recital featuring tenor Russell Thomas. The famed interpreter of such works as “Norma,” “Otello,” “La Clemenza di Tito,” and “Tosca,” will work together with pianist Kyung-mi Kim on {…}
(Credit: Studio Ghibli / Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera) “Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a film section or a film in its entirety and highlight the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film {…}
The Longborough Festival Opera has launched a podcast series that will feature conversations with many of opera’s biggest stars. The company has released four episodes to this point, with three of them focused on Wagner’s Ring Cycle. In the first, journalist Richard Bratby, Longborough Music Director Anthony Negus, and bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones talk about Wotan’s journey through the tetralogy. In a second episode, Writer and {…}
(Image Source – Lyric Opera of Chicago) The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced that it will cancel its production for Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” The tetralogy was set to run in three distinct cycles between April 13 through May 3. The first set of performances was set for April 13-18; the second was set for April 20-25; and {…}
Swedish soprano Nina Maria Stemme has been broadly regarded as one of the greatest living dramatic sopranos. What’s fascinating when you look at her career trajectory is seeing that the repertory for which she is best known seemed like a far cry during those early stage. She made her onstage debut in the mezzo-soprano role of Cherubino in Mozart’s opera {…}
(Credit: Simon Pauly) It all started with a fall. A fall on stage. During his first ever performance of “The King & I,” as an adolescent, bass-baritone Seth Carico entered a stage for the first time and purposely fell down the stairs as required by the direction. “When I heard all those people laughing at what I had done, I {…}
(Credit: Simon Jay Price) The London Philharmonic Orchestra has announced that it will be performing two complete Ring Cycles this winter under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski. The two cycles are set to take place between Jan. 25-31 and Feb. 5-10, 2021 at the Royal Festival Hall. The cycles will be a culmination of a project that initiated back in {…}