Rihab Chaieb, Elsa Dreisig & Jakub Józef Orliński Headline Opera Orchestre National De Montpelier’s 2018-19 Season

The Opera Orchestre National de Montpelier has announced its 2018-19 season featuring a vast array of repertoire. The season will feature established artists as well as rising stars. For this season announcement, we have only focused on the vocal events. Production Hervé’s “Mam’zelle Nitouche” opens the season with Laura Neumann, Damien Birgourdain, Samy Camps, and Olivier Py in the lead {…}

Jun 21, 2018

Palazetto Bru Zane 2018 Festival Review: Gounod Gala Is A Goldmine of Hidden Operatic Gems

No one ever pretended that opera was a cheap art form. As an extreme example, the Salzburg Festival has a budget of over 60 million euros for just six weeks, making its balance sheet the envy of several small Pacific island states. But even in countries with an immense musical patrimony such as Italy, there is a tendency for populist {…}

Jun 1, 2018

Elsa Dreisig Signs With Erato

Soprano Elsa Dreisig has signed an exclusive recording contract with Erato. The Franco-Danish soprano will release her debut album in October 2018 showcasing dual portraits of opera heroines from Juliette to Salomé. The program will delve into characters explored by more than one composer. Those will include Salomé of Massenet and Richard Strauss, the Manon of Massenet and Puccini, and Gounod’s Juliette illuminated {…}

Jun 1, 2018

Top 5 Operas to See This Weekend – International (6/1-3): Ailyn Perez, Joyce El-Khoury & Mariella Devia Headline Weekend

The weekend is here and that means we have selections that we believe you can not miss. Here is a round up of five operas that include major superstars and rarely performed works. Rigoletto – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Juan Diego Flórez and Aida Garifullina sing Verdi’s ever-popular opera with Paolo Rumetz singing the title role. Ryan Speedo Green and Elena {…}

Apr 12, 2018

Diana Damrau, Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli & Anja Harteros Lead Opernhaus Zurich’s 2018-19 Season

Opera Zürich has announced its 2018-19 season slate, which is among the largest in the world. It will feature a whopping 12 new productions, among a glut of exciting revivals. Let’s dive in. Premieres Gisbert Näther’s “Konrad oder das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse” gets a new production by Claudia Blersch. Ann-Katrin Stöcker conducts two cast which will include Irène Friedli, Katharina Peetz, Flurin {…}

Jul 23, 2017

Festival d’Aix-En-Provence 2017 Review – Carmen: Tcherniakov’s Production Will Change the Way You See Bizet’s Masterpiece

“Carmen,” Georges Bizet’s Spanish-inspired masterpiece, was performed at the Festival d’arLyriqueue d’Aix-en-Provence’s 2017 season in an unconventional production. Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov’s has consigned the traditional Sevillan mantillas, toreros, and abrigos de luz to distant memory and, for the hugely popular opera’s return to Aix for the first time in 60 years, has fully reviewed the story to give it {…}