(Credit: Karen Almond) Bel Canto is having a bit of a resurgence at the Metropolitan Opera this year, with the company, after years of giving one or no offering per season, currently showcasing two works from the composers of this era. What is clear from both experiences is that the audience is responding in ways that the Met has not {…}
Opera Rara is set to stream its March 16 concert featuring Michael Spyres and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. The showcase, which took place at Cadogan Hall on March 10, will be available to stream on Opera Rara’s YouTube for 30 days starting on March 16, 2025. The performance featured several songs by Donizetti, interspersed with works by Berlioz. The two singers were {…}
Back in 2022, the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo featured a production of Donizetti’s “La Favorite” using a new critical French edition and with no cuts (including the whole ballet). For that occasion Ricardo Frizza was the conductor. Now, a few years later, ABAO Bilbao is bringing back that same Bergamo production, in coproduction with Opéra National de Bordeaux, as well {…}
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo has announced a New Year’s Eve gala. The evening will feature a performance of “L’Elisir d’amore” followed by a dinner at Hauser & Wirth gallery that mixes art with gourmet cuisine. The menu includes caviar, lobster, angus beef, and exotic fruits. The evening is capped by a festive celebration. The performance of “Elisir” will be conducted {…}
(Photo: Patricio Cassinoni) At his best, Donizetti is a master of the comic opera, with works such as “Don Pasquale” and “L’Elisir d’Amore” still playing to packed houses almost 200 years after their premieres. Others, however, are less well-known; his 1831 one-act farce, “Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali,” being a case in point. Few people will have heard of it, {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) Set just off the waterfront in Wexford town centre is The Grain Store, an old, restored warehouse, which last year hosted the festival’s first community opera. It is a project that enables the local population to engage directly with the festival by creating and presenting its own production with the help of workshops that take place throughout {…}
(Credit: (c) Simon Weir) Opera Rara is set to stream its upcoming performance of Rosa Feola at Wigmore Hall on Nov. 2, 2024. The famed soprano will perform as part of the “Donizetti Song Project” alongside Carlo Rizzi at the piano and Sally Pryce on harp. The performance features songs by Donizetti as well as a modern-day premiere. Also on {…}
Light Opera of NJ will present Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” on Nov. 8 and 9, 2024 at the Sieminski Theater in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The showcase will be directed by Stefano Koroneos and conducted by Jason Tramm who leads the Light Opera of New Jersey Orchestra. The Donizetti opera will star Pedro Barrera and Zhedong Ren as Nemorino and Tiernan {…}
(Photo credit: Agnese Zeltiņa) Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love” (L’elisir d’amore) is frequently appreciated for its vibrant comedy and charming music. However, this opera offers a depth that goes beyond surface-level amusement, engaging themes of love, illusion, and societal structures in nuanced ways. Traditional productions often miss the deeper layers of the opera, focusing instead on its comedic aspects. In {…}
The Donizettian musicologist and researcher Luca Zoppelli notes that we are unusually well-informed about the genesis of Don Pasquale, thanks to Giovanni Ruffini. Ruffini, a young Italian writer and political refugee in Paris, met Gaetano Donizetti and began collaborating with him. Initially, Ruffini translated to the Italian Dom Sébastien before writing the libretto for “Don Pasquale,” which he signed with {…}
Vermont’s Opera Company of Middlebury has unveiled its 2024 summer season. The company opens the season with a production of “La Fille du Régiment.” The opera will be directed by Douglas Anderson and conducted by Filippo Ciabatti. Sara Lemesh, Patrick Bessenbacher, Richard Bernstein, Andy Papas, Angelica McLennan, Jonathan Isham, and Alissa Anderson star. Performance Dates: May 31 – June 8, 2024 {…}