Happy Father’s Day! Fathers are those we turn to in moments of need, who set great examples by which we can live by and, the best, seek out ways to enrich our lives every day. Opera has quite the list of famous fathers, and unlike the mothers, who are often portrayed negatively, fathers come in all shapes and sizes. So {…}
San Francisco Opera’s “Don Giovanni” brings us bass-baritones with gusto, sopranos with flair, a tenor who pleads his case with feeling, and an opera that never ceases to amaze. Opening SFO’s 2017 summer season, Jacopo Spirei, in his SFO debut, offers us the ever satisfying chestnut in as provocative and seductive a production as the Don himself. Who can {…}
After looking at the top female and male singers as well as the finest maestros of the 2016-17 season, we now turn the spotlight on the 10 best-assembled casts of the season. This was a truly difficult piece to put together as this Met season had great casts for almost every single opera. But the casts listed below were simply {…}
Zinka Milanov was born on May 17, 1906. Exactly 12 years later, on May 17, 1918, Birgit Nilsson was born. The two women would go on to markedly different careers, though they both performed at the greatest houses in the world and would perform with many of the same artists, albeit in different operas. Both women were dramatic sopranos, and {…}
This summer the Skylark Opera will present Mozart’s beloved masterpiece “Don Giovanni.” The new production will a site-specific production in collaboration with Angels & Demons Entertainment and will be set during the Prohibition era, circa 1932. The production will feature Don Giovanni as a nefarious owner of the most popular speakeasy in town. The production will take place at the Minneapolis {…}
“It’s like having a crime and then trying to justify it and find why it was committed.” That is how soprano Marina Rebeka, currently making her role debut as Donna Elvira at the Metropolitan Opera, approaches every single opera role or artistic endeavor she takes on. The soprano recently spoke with OperaWire regarding her upcoming projects, putting a spotlight on {…}
I am going to be rather forward with you. This analysis of Wednesday’s “Don Giovanni” at the Metropolitan Opera will kick off on a positive note before turning a bit sour in tone. But lo and behold, after that, I am going to return to my boyish enthusiasm for what I experienced at the opening of this revival run. The {…}
Making your way to an evening at the opera, you pass through Prague’s medieval, cobblestone streets. In the distance, sets the orange, Bohemian sun behind the black silhouette of Prague Castle. Now descending into a cellar, you’ll find yourself in the theater lobby, packing your hands with Czech beer and awaiting the opening notes of the longest running production of {…}
The Mostly Mozart Festival is one of the highlights of the summer in New York City, filled with many selections from the great genius. Of course, there is always a nice selection for opera lovers and this year is no different. There will be two concerts that feature choral music. The first of these is “The Singing Heart” on July {…}
Conductor Daniele Rustioni is poised to change things up at the Opera de Lyon in coming seasons. The Italian maestro was presented as the newly minted Music Director of the company at a private reception in New York on Thursday at the Bar Boulud on Broadway. Along with him was Lyon Opera’s own General Director Serge Dorny to reveal the {…}
The prestigious Olivier Awards were handed out on April 9 and while “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” dominated the awards, the opera community had something to celebrate. Mark Wigglesworth, who conducted “Don Giovanni” and “Lulu” at London Coliseum, won the outstanding achievement in opera award beating out Stuart Skelton and Renée Fleming. Meanwhile, the New Opera Production was awarded to Phillip {…}