Michael Spyres, Pene Pati, Sabine Devieilhe, Étienne Dupuis & Stéphane Degout Lead Opera Comique’s 2025-26 Season

Opera Comique has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” with Michael Spyres, Héloïse Mas, Amina Edris, and Jean-Sébastien Bou. Pierre Dumoussaud conducts the production by Lotte De Beer. Performance Dates: Sept. 25-Oct. 5, 2025 Gluck’s “Iphigénie en Tauride” will star Tamara Bounazou, Theo Hoffman, Philippe Talbot, Jean-Fernand Setti, Léontine Maridat-Zimmerlin, Fanny Soyer, and Lysandre Châlon. Louis {…}

Mar 22, 2024

Joyce El-Khoury, Lea Desandre, Anne-Catherine Gillet & Jarrett Ott Lead Opéra Comique’s 2024-25 Season

Opéra Comique has announced its schedule for the 2024-25 season. Auber’s “Le Domino noir” is set to be conducted by Louis Langrée and will be directed by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq. The cast includes Anne-Catherine Gillet, Cyrille Dubois, and Victoire Bunel. Performance Date: Sept. 20-28, 2024 George Benjamin & Martin Crimp’s “Picture a Day Like This” is set to {…}

Jul 20, 2023

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2023 Review: Le Prophète

(photo credit: Festival d’Aix-en-Provence © Vincent Beaume) In the audience, on my right side, a young person wears a T-Shirt that reads “Meyerbeer Fan.” On my left side, a spinster cries “Justice for Meyerbeer.” Rarely does an opera in concert raise so many people’s spirits. But, Giacomo Meyerbeer is not a composer. He is an idealist. History has Dreyfuss, but only {…}

Jun 27, 2023

Opéra de Massy Announces 2023-24 Season

The Opéra de Massy has announced the 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. The company is set to present a 30th-anniversary gala with Dominique Rouits conducting and Gabrielle Philiponet and Armando Noguera as soloists. Performance Date: Oct. 6 & 7, 2023 Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” will be conducted by José-Miguel Perez-Sierra and directed by Mireille Delunsch. {…}

Aug 7, 2022

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2022 Review: Moïse et Pharaon

(Photo: Monika Ritttershaus) The initial impressions of the Aix-en-Provence festival’s production of Rossini’s “Moïse et Pharaon” did not bode well. Hearsay reports spoke of a modern day reinterpretation in which the focus was on refugees, and their life in the camps and the perils they face when crossing the Mediterranean. Productions which seek to politicize an opera, beyond that which {…}

Aug 20, 2021

Lawrence Brownlee, Jeanine de Bique, Sarah Coburn & Michael Volle Lead New CD/DVD Releases

This week audiences can expect two complete opera recordings, an oratorio recording, and a new solo album. Here is a look at the exciting new recordings. Platée Rameau’s opera gets a new release on C Major in a production from the Theater an der Wien. Directed by Robert Carsen, the production featured William Christie leading Les Arts Florissants and starred {…}

Jul 7, 2021

Pretty Yende & Piotr Beczala Lead Bastille Day Concert de Paris

On July 14 the Orchestre national de France, the Chœur, and the Maîtrise de Radio France will celebrate Bastille Day with the annual Concert de Paris at the Eiffel Tower. This year, the concert will feature Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Clémentine Margaine, Pretty Yende, and tenor Piotr Beczała alongside violinist Renaud Capuçon and musician Ibrahim Maalouf. Simone Young conducts the celebration. The {…}

Jun 16, 2021

Enea Scala, Michael Weinius & Raehann Bryce-Davis Lead Opera Vlaanderen’s 2021-22 Season

The Opera Vlaanderen in Belgium has announced its 2021-22 season featuring a variety of operatic works and concerts. Here is a look: Kurt Weill’s “Der Silbersee” opens the season with Daniel Arnaldos, Marjan De Schutter, Hanne Roos, Benny Claessens, James Kryshak, and Elsie De Brauw. Karel Deseure conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 18-Oct. 16, 2021 “La Nuova Euridice” will fetaure music {…}

Mar 29, 2021

Jonas Kaufmann, Jessye Norman, Christine Goerke, Lawrence Brownlee Headline Top 10 Operas to Stream This Week

With the Easter holiday coming at the end of the week, there should be no surprise that there are a lot of Wagnerian offerings in the operatic streaming world. And so Wagner figures prominently on this week’s list. But there’s also a lot more going on that we’re happy to share. So without further ado, here come the top 10 operas {…}

Mar 26, 2021

Lise Davidsen & Oksana Volkova Lead New CD/DVD Releases

This week audiences can hear the latest album by one of the most exciting artists in opera right now as well as a new exciting works. There are also rarely performed works, a DVD of a recent world premiere and a new album by a famed mezzo. Let’s take a look. Beethoven Wagner Verdi Lise Davidsen releases her second album {…}

Mar 26, 2021

Nicole Chevalier, Aušrinė Stundytė & Bo Skovhus Lead Broadcasts From Theater An Der Wien

(Credits: © Bernd Uhlig / © Werner Kmetitsch) The Theater an der Wien has announced a series of broadcasts after high uncertainty over a date of possible reopening due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Austria. First up is a production of Prokofiev’s “The Fiery Angel.” The opera showcases Aušrinė Stundytė, Bo Skovhus, Natascha Petrinsky, Elena Zaremba, Nikolai Schukoff, Alexey {…}