Elīna Garanča, Piotr Beczała, Christopher Purves Headline Second Half of Philharmonia Orchestra’s 2024-25 Season

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 {…}

Oct 1, 2024

Teatro Real 2024-25 Review: Adriana Lecouvreur (Cast A)

(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 {…}

Sep 6, 2024

Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča, Jonathan Tetelman, Véronique Gens, Corinne Winters Among Nominees for Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2024

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 {…}

Jul 22, 2024

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 Review: Elīna Garanča & Malcolm Martineau in Recital

“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 {…}

Jul 16, 2024

CD Review: Deutsche Grammophon’s ‘Parsifal’

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; {…}

Jun 28, 2024

Elīna Garanča, John Osborn & Christine Moore Vassallo Lead New CD/DVD Releases

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 {…}

Jun 17, 2024

Carnegie Hall 2023-24 Review: The Met Opera Orchestra’s ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’

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 {…}

Jun 3, 2024

Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau, Cecilia Bartoli, Elīna Garanča & Michael Spyres Lead Philharmonie Essen’s 2024-25 Season

The Philharmonie Essen has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the vocal performances of the season. Evelina Liubonko, Sarah Romberger, Thomas Hobbs, and Kresimir Strazanac perform works by Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Durante, and Georg Friedrich Händel alongside Rias Kammerchor Berlin. Performance Date: Sept. 7, 2024 Graun’s “Adriano in Siria” will star Noah Hellwig, Valer Sabadus, Roberta Mameli, Maayan Licht, David {…}

May 28, 2024

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Rosa Feola, Juan Diego Flórez, Camilla Nylund & Marina Rebeka Lead Teatro alla Scala’s 2024-25 Season

The Teatro alla Scala has announced its 2024-25 Season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” starring Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Alexander Vinogradov, and Marco Filippo Romano. Riccardo Chailly conducts the new production by Leo Muscato. The opera will also star Elena Stikhina, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Luciano Ganci, and Simon Lim in the second {…}

May 25, 2024

Anna Netrebko, Sondra Radvanovsky, Elīna Garanča, Huw Montague Rendall, Kristina Mkhitaryan & Piotr Beczała Lead Teatro de la Maestranza’s 2024-25 Season

Sevilla’s Teatro de la Maestranza has announced its 2024-25 season. Lirica Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczała celebrate Puccini with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and Keri-Lynn Wilson. Performance Date: Oct. 30, 2024 Gianluca Marcianò and Jacopo Brusa conduct Puccini’s “Turandot” with Oksana Dyka, Maria Katzarava, Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev, Alejandro Baliñas, Jorge de León, Héctor Sandoval, Miren Urbieta-Vega, and Laura Brasó. Performance {…}

May 24, 2024

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Sondra Radvanovsky, Asmik Grigorian & Francesco Meli Lead Teatro San Carlo’s 2024-25 Season

The Teatro San Carlo announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Dvořák’s “Rusalka” in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Dan Ettinger conducts a cast that includes Asmik Grigorian, Adam Smith, Ekaterina Gubanova, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Gábor Bretz. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 7, 2024 Verdi’s “Don Carlo” will be conducted by Henrik Nánási and will star Piero Pretti, Gabriele Viviani, Ildar {…}

Elina Garanca