Once a singer stops performing, he or she may often move into teaching or directing. Some singers add either to their schedules as a contrast to their stage performances, though this often represents a decline in being the star attraction onstage. But Alek Shrader is doing it all at the same time while still very much in his vocal prime. {…}
The New York Opera Fest 2019 kicked off on Monday, April 29 and for the next several weeks, New Yorkers will get ample opportunity to enjoy opera in a variety of unique ways. As has been OperaWire’s tradition over the years, we have reached out to a number of the companies participating in the festival and have asked them a {…}
After the performances of Cavalli’s “La Calisto,” the bets were high for the staging of one of the jewels of English composer Henry Purcell – “Dido & Aeneas.” This production by Sasha Waltz premiered at the Berlin Staatsoper in 2005 and has travelled around the world. Waltz, a German contemporary choreographer and dancer, integrates dance, music, text, sets and costumes {…}
The Handel and Haydn Society is set to perform Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas.” The stage production will be directed by Aidan Lang, current general director of the Seattle Opera and future leader of the Welsh National Opera. Soprano Susan Bickley will perform the role of Dido, while baritone David McFerrin will take on the role of Aeneas. The cast is rounded {…}
Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” has always left room for discussion in regards to musical content and timeline. However, it is with this openness that Juilliard took the opportunity to mold this opera into what was a remarkably intimate production of English Chamber music that told the heartbreaking story of a hell-bent Queen of Carthage. More specifically, Conductor Avi Stein {…}
