Vocal longevity is a major concern these days for most singers. There was a time when people were entering their prime years in their late 30s or 40s. But the industry has changed and singers are, in many case, forced into the limelight at younger ages. Seeing an international operastar at age 28 was illusory 50 years ago. It’s becoming {…}
Dolora Zajick is one of the famed Verdi mezzos of the late 20th and early 21st century. Born on March 24, 1952, Oregon, she actually started off as a pre-med student at the University of Nevada before switching over to voice. She wound up graduating from the University of Nevada with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s music. From there, she {…}
This review is for the performance on Monday, January 14, 2019. This season’s revival of “Aida” is well underway after opening in September of 2018, boasting a compelling cast of artists such as Anita Rachvelishvili and Anna Netrebko. The second cast which reopened the opera’s run earlier this month has re-stoked the fires of excitement and offered audiences freshness to {…}
There will be 14 performances of Verdi’s “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2018-19 season spanning from September through March. On the surface, 14 performances might not really be all that much, except when one considers that there will be what ultimately amounts to two very different casts with variations spread across three different periods of the season. So {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its Live in HD Summer Encores series. The Met will rebroadcast four popular operas including Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” starring Roberto Alagna and Kristine Opolais from 2016, followed by Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” starring Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Dolora Zajick, and Yonghoon Lee from 2015. The series will then feature Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” with Renée Fleming, Hvorostovsky, {…}
On Jan. 22, 2018, the Metropolitan Opera will revive David McVicar’s production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” The production runs until Feb. 15, a total of eight performances. This year’s production is set to offer up quite some delights for newcomers to Verdi’s mid-period masterpiece. Here’s a look at some reasons you must see this revival. Rising Stars Take the Lead {…}
This review is for the performance on Dec. 22, 2017. We’re going to change things up a bit for this review. I don’t enjoy writing in the first person for this kind of article, but “Hansel and Gretel” is an extremely personal experience for me. It was the first opera I ever saw in my life at the age of {…}
The Metropolitan Opera Guild will hold a luncheon to honor superstar soprano Renée Fleming on Dec. 7, 2017. The event will feature a massive list of superstars in attendance, including Martina Arroyo, Jamie Barton, Harry Bicket, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephanie Blythe, Wolfgang Brendel, Joseph Calleja, Kristin Chenoweth, Glenn Close, Philip Cokorinos, James Conlon, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Dwayne Croft, Loretta Di Franco, Rosalind Elias, {…}
It’s another hectic weekend with many of the worlds greatest stars performing around the world. The modern classics and many of the traditional warhorses will be featured this weekend. Austria The Vienna State Opera continues its run of “La Bohème” with Jinxu Xiahou, Hrachuhí Bassenz, Gabriel Bermúdez and Aida Garifullina as well as “The Gambler” with Linda Watson and “Don Giovanni” {…}
This is a review for the final performance of the run, which took place on May 12, 2017. The first opera I saw during the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season was Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” So it was only fitting that the last one I saw this season was “Der Fliegende Holländer,” the first to truly establish the composer as {…}
How do you balance three different careers? That is the question that Dolora Zajick is asking herself as she steps into a new phase of her career. “I’m running my organization, I’m singing and I’m composing. And I’ve got to find a way to reorganize myself so I can do everything I want,” she told OperaWire during a conversation in {…}