Angel Blue, Nicky Spence, Joyce DiDonato, Leah Hawkins, Rachel Willis-Sørensen & Charles Castronovo Lead BBC Proms’ 2026 Season

The BBC Proms has announced its 2026 season. Here are the vocal performances. The festival opens on with pianist Yunchan Lim and tenor Thomas Atkins joining Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for music by Ravel, Copland, Gershwin and Finzi. There will also be a world premiere by Josephine Stephenson. Performance Date: July 17, 2026 Gianandrea Noseda leads Beethoven’s Symphony {…}

Apr 5, 2026

Benjamin Bernheim, Sabine Devieilhe, Olga Peretyatko, Magdalena Kožená, Klaus Florian Vogt, Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, Michael Volle & Miina-Liisa Värelä Lead Philharmonie de Paris’ 2026-27 Season

The Philharmonie de Paris has announced its 2026-27 season. Here are the vocal performances for the season. Yannick Nezet-Seguin will conduct Elza van den Heever and the Met Orchestra in a program of Strauss music. Performance Date: Sept. 1, 2026 Yannick Nezet-Seguin and Joyce DiDonato team up with the Met Orchestra for Mahler and Kaija Saariaho. Performance Date: Sept. 2, {…}

Aug 8, 2025

Bayreuth Festival 2025 Review: Lohengrin

(© Enrico Nawrath) A well-loved conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, Christian Thielemann, who made his début on the Green Hill in 2000 overseeing a dynamic performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” served Bayreuth as its music director from 2015 to 2020. Therefore, it is good to see him back this year conducting “Lohengrin” which he originally took charge of in {…}

Jul 24, 2025

Klaus Florian Vogt, Andreas Schager, Camilla Nylund, Asmik Grigorian, Michael Volle & Elza van den Heever Lead Bayreuth Festival’s 2026 Season

The Bayreuth Festival has announced its 2026 season. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts “Rienzi” with Andreas Schager, Gabriela Scherer, Jennifer Holloway, Michael Nagy, and Matthias Stier. Magdolna Parditka and Alexandra Szemeredy direct the rarely performed work. Performance Dates: July 26-August 26, 2026 Christian Thielemann will conduct The Ring Cycle, which Marcus Lobbes will curate. Michael Volle, Alexander Grassauer, Klaus Florian Vogt, Anna Kissjudit, Evelin Novak, Christa {…}

Jun 26, 2025

Lise Davidsen, Jonas Kaufmann, Angel Blue, Aigul Akhmetshina & Bradley Cooper Lead Metropolitan Opera’s Summer HD Festival

The Metropolitan Opera has announced its annual Summer HD Festival, which will return to Lincoln Center Plaza. The festival will run between August 22 and September 1. THE 2025 MET SUMMER HD FESTIVAL SCHEDULE The festival opens with “Maestro” starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. The Academy Award–nominated biopic tells the story of the legendary American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein {…}

Jun 18, 2025

Carnegie Hall 2025 Review: The Met Orchestra & Soprano Elza van den Heever

(Photo: ©2025 Chris Lee) Conductor and Lerman-Newbauer Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the Met Orchestra at NYC’s Carnegie Hall for a special night featuring Richard Strauss works on Thursday, June 12, 2025, showcasing one of the world’s leading lyric-dramatic sopranos, Elza van den Heever, who just concluded her season of performances as Salome at Met Opera. The night was full of standing {…}

Jun 6, 2025

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to Present Two Concerts at Carnegie Hall Featuring Angel Blue & Elza van den Heever

(© Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra is set to present two concerts at Carnegie Hall. The first will be held on June 12 and will feature Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Elza van den Heever in an all-Strauss program. The concert will include “Der Rosenkavalier Suite,” Selected Orchestral Songs, and “Ein Heldenleben.” The second concert will be held on June {…}

May 13, 2025

Matthew Polenzani Headlines San Francisco Opera’s ‘Idomeneo’

San Francisco Opera is set to present Mozart’s “Idomeneo” from June 14–25, 2025. Caroline H. Hume Music Director, Eun Sun Kim is set to conduct a production by Lindy Hume. The cast will include American tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role of Idomeneo alongside Daniela Mack as Idamante, Ying Fang as Ilia, Elza van den Heever as Elettra, and tenor {…}

May 7, 2025

Elza van den Heever, Joseph Calleja, Nicholas Brownlee, Corinne Winters, Allan Clayton & Anna Princeva Lead Oper Frankfurt’s 2025-26 Season

Oper Frankfurt has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” will star Teona Todua, Karolina Bengtsson, Kelsey Lauritano, Taehan Kim, Sakhiwe Mkosana, Magnus Dietrich, Andrew Kim, Bianca Tognocchi, Elizabeth Reiter, Liviu Holender, and Sebastian Geyer. Thomas Guggeis conducts the production by Mariame Clément. Performance Dates: Sept. 21, 2025-Jan. 17, 2026 Alexander Tsymbalyuk leads Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” with Karolina {…}

Apr 30, 2025

Metropolitan Opera 2024-25 Review: Salome

(Credit: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera) On April 28, 2025, the Metropolitan Opera opened a new production of Strauss’ “Salome.” At the center of the highly anticipated performance was the debut of internationally-renowned director Claus Guth, who has built a name of edgy reimaginings of classic works. It was also the first new production of “Salome” at the Met since {…}

Apr 29, 2025

Elza van den Heever Leads Met Opera’s ‘Salome’ HD Transmission

(Credit: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024–25 Live in HD season is set to continue with a new production of Strauss’ “Salome.” The transmission will be held on May 17, 2025 with soprano Elza van den Heever starring in the title role, alongside baritone Peter Mattei as Jochanaan. They will be joined by mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Herodias, alongside tenor Gerhard Siegel as {…}

elza van den heever