The International Classical Music Awards has announced the nominations for its 2025 Awards. The winners will be revealed on Jan. 14 and will receive their trophies at the gala at the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf on March 19. Here are the vocal nominees. Baroque Vocal Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Solo Cantatas for Alto and Bass: J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 56, BWV {…}
(Credit: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present a new production of Verdi’s “Aida.” The new production will open on Dec. 31, 2024, and will be directed by Michael Mayer, who has already been in charge of the Met’s productions of “Grounded,” “Rigoletto,” “La Traviata,” and “Marnie.” This will be the first new production of {…}
The Lucerne Festival has announced its 2025 summer season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly perform Mahler with Elīna Garanča. Performance Date: August 15, 2025 The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and Keri-Lynn Wilson perform Strauss and Beethoven. Rachel Willis-Sørensen is the guest soloist. Performance Date: August 18, 2025 Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di {…}
Elīna Garanča will not perform during the 2024-25 season at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, Spain. In a letter obtained by Diario de Sevilla from the mezzo-soprano’s press team, Garanča clarifies that she never signed a contract for the performances of “Carmen” on June 13, 15, and 17, 2025 and that she has dates for another theater during {…}
The Philharmonia Orchestra has unveiled the second half of its 2024-25 season. (To check out the first half, click here.) Here is a rundown of the vocal and operatic performances on offer. Riccardo Muti will conduct Verdi’s Requiem with a star-studded quartet of singers. Soloists include Juliana Grigoryan, Elīna Garanča, Piotr Beczała, and Ildebrando d’Arcangelo. Performance Date: March 27, 2025 {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) The Spanish opera coliseum opened its 2024-25 season with the worldwide recognized production of Francesco Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” by David McVicar and two excellent casts, streaming a live performance on Live Screens all over Spain (on the 28th of September) and on a wide screen in the back facade of Teatro Real. David McVicar’s Production Perspective {…}
Gramophone Classical Music Awards has announced its nominees for its 2024 edition. Here is rundown of the vocal nominees. CHORAL Delius – “Mass of Life” – Bergen Philharmonic, Sir Mark Elder (LAWO) Elgar – “The Dream of Gerontius” – Gabrieli Consort & Players, Paul McCreesh (Signum) Parry – “Prometheus Unbound” – London Mozart Players (Chandos) EARLY Josquin – “Motets & chansons” – Cut Circle, Jesse Rodin (Musique en {…}
“Dignifed” is perhaps the best word to define Elīna Garanča and Malcolm Martineau’s recital. At a time when recitals have become more and more either causal occasions or rallies for a pressing cause, the Latvian mezzo-soprano reminds us of the ennobling power of music itself. Such elevation sentiment comes along with Garanča and Martineau’s fairly intellectual nature. This duo thinks {…}
There is something to be said about the proverbial aura of live performances, especially in the case of “Parsifal” and recordings from its native Bayreuth. The pleasure is double – cynics might argue – in the absence of visual extravagance, incl. kinky stage designs and the intrusion of AR into the scenography. Thankfully, Deutsche Grammophon does not impose the latter; {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get a chance to see and listen to a production from Bayreuth. There are also several world premiere recordings and an acclaimed recording from a recent festival. From Al-Andalus to the Americas: An Odyssey of Spanish Song Christine Moore {…}
On June 14, 2024, the Metropolitan Opera presented its second program to its Carnegie Hall series which is set to go on tour later this month. The program combined the works of Wagner, Debussy, and Bartók. The result was an uneven opening half and a second half that was perhaps one of the best operatic performances of the entire Met {…}