This review is for the performance on Nov. 15 and 21, 2019. A common complaint of the current age is that, despite our cell phones and social media profiles, humanity is lonelier and less connected than ever before. Newspapers warn of a “loneliness epidemic,” think pieces term it a “social cancer,” and streams of articles comment on topics such as {…}
Soprano Nina Stemme has made a last minute cancelation of “Tosca” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. In her stead, Soprano Karine Babajanyan will be performing alongside Fabio Sartori as Cavaradossi and Ambrogio Maestri as Scarpia. Donald C. Runnicles will conduct the performance. Babajanyan was also the last minute replacement for Nina Stemme at the Wiener {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced cast changes for Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” The company announced that Elena Guseva will replace Ermonela Jaho in the role of Cio-Cio-San while tenor Ragaa Eldin will replace Migran Agadzhanyan in the role of B. F. Pinkerton. Guseva has appeared at the Wiener Staatsoper in “Otello” and “Aida” as well as “Madama Butterfly.” This season {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that tenor Marc Laho will replace Tomislav Mužek on Nov. 8, 2019 in “Les Contes d’Hoffman.” Laho is a Belgian lyric tenor who made his Deutsche Oper Berlin debut in 2004 and has sung in such operas as “Don Pasquale” and “La Favorite,” among others. He has also appeared at the Opera Royal de {…}
(Credit: Bernd Uhlig) The Deutsche Oper Berlin’s current “Nabucco” is a production by Keith Warner, first presented in 2013. It’s not an unconventional production, at least by Berlin standards. Where Berlin opera is often characterized by the most provocative nontraditional productions—Frank Castorf’s recent “Forza” premiere, for instance, provoked a near-riot among its Deutsche Oper audiences—Warner’s “Nabucco,” by contrast, feels tame. {…}
(Credit: Johannes Ifkovits) Piotr Beczala has canceled the final performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Beczala is currently on vocal rest after vocal chord issues caused by a burst blood vessel. While the tenor returned to the stage in Hamburg for a concert with Angela Gheorghiu, he previously announced that he would not be able to {…}
Eva-Maria Westbroek has canceled the final performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on Sept. 20, 2019. The Deutsche Oper Berlin announced that due to illness Westbroek was forced to cancel. As a result, Elena Zhidkova will sing the role of Santuzza. Zhidkova recently performed the role of Eboli in Verdi’s “Don Carlo” and will reprise the same {…}
(Credit: Johannes Ifkovits) Piotr Beczala has canceled performances of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” in Berlin. The Deutsche Oper Berlin announced via social media that Beczala was ill. The company stated, “Due to problems with his vocal chords, Piotr Beczala has to cancel his performances as Gustaf III in ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ on 15/19/23 Sept at the Deutsche Oper.” As {…}
Pretty Yende has canceled her upcoming performance of Bellini’s ”La Sonnambula” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The soprano announced that due to health conditions she would not be able to perform the role of Amina. She said, “It grieves my heart and soul that I have to unfortunately not perform my scheduled engagements as Amina Deutsche oper Berlin due to the {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season, which will include six new productions and dozens of revivals with some of opera’s greatest stars. New Productions The first new production of the season will be Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino.” The production will be directed by Frank Castorf and will star Russell Thomas and Marcelo Alvarez as Don Alvaro. {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has long been a mecca for iconoclast regie theater directors ranging from Hans Neuenfels and Claus Guth to Ole Anders Tandberg, whose recent staging of “Carmen” had more viscera on the stage than verismo. Curiously, the extant production of “La Traviata” by the former Deutsche Oper Intendant Götz Friedrich, dating back to 1999, is surprisingly uncontroversial. In his {…}
