It is Hispanic Heritage month! The Latin American community has, particularly in recent years, been a major boon to the opera world, providing it with great singers and composers, and a number of great operas. As the third part of this weekly series, we will look at some of the most popular male Hispanic singers currently dominating the operatic world. Rolando {…}
It is a rather quiet weekend as many companies are in rehearsals gearing up for opening nights. However, some companies resume their 2016-17 seasons while others conclude summer festivals and others begin 2017-18 seasons. Here is a look at what to expect. Germany The Deutsche Oper Berlin kicks off its 2017-18 season with Verdi’s “La Traviata,” starring Ben Bernheim and Salome {…}
The Chorégies d’Orange has announced its 2018 season which will include two productions and recitals, among other things. Everything kicks off on May 25, 2018 with “Pop the Opera,” a concert featuring hundreds of artists from around the aria, performing famous excerpts from the world of opera. There will also be pop tunes and film music, giving the experience a {…}
The Operalia Competition is just days away and in anticipation of the famed event, we will take a look back down memory lane at the opera singers who became stars after big performances at the competition. For this week’s installment, we will look at the early years of the competition and the 90s. Here are the winners of that decade {…}
San Francisco Opera’s “Don Giovanni” brings us bass-baritones with gusto, sopranos with flair, a tenor who pleads his case with feeling, and an opera that never ceases to amaze. Opening SFO’s 2017 summer season, Jacopo Spirei, in his SFO debut, offers us the ever satisfying chestnut in as provocative and seductive a production as the Don himself. Who can {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced that Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott and American bass Erik Anstine will sing the role of Leporello in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Both artists will make their first appearances with the San Francisco Opera as they will be stepping in for previously scheduled bass Marco Vinco, who has withdrawn from the production for health reasons. Schrott is {…}
Opéra Monte Carlo has announced its 2017-18 season with a diverse amount of operas. The season’s first production, Rossini’s “La Cenerentola,” opens on Oct. 29, 2017, with Cecilia Bartoli leading the cast. Nicola Alaimo, Rebecca Olvera, Carlos Chausson, and Edgardo Rocha round out the cast in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s classic production. Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” takes the stage on Nov. 19, 2017, {…}
I am going to be rather forward with you. This analysis of Wednesday’s “Don Giovanni” at the Metropolitan Opera will kick off on a positive note before turning a bit sour in tone. But lo and behold, after that, I am going to return to my boyish enthusiasm for what I experienced at the opening of this revival run. The {…}
If there was one event that opera lovers couldn’t miss this week, it was the return of Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The baritone was joined by Anna Netrebko and her Husband Yusif Eyvazov in a sold out concert that included some of the greatest hits in opera and a number of Russian selections. The performance was a big hit and Hvorostovsky showed his {…}
No opera house has more superstars on the roster next season than the Bayerische Staatsoper. Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, arguably the two biggest stars in the opera world, will both appear in Munich in 2017-18, albeit in limited runs. Their appearances in America are limited to a total of eight shows between the two of them. In Munich, that {…}
What are you doing this weekend? Do you have any plans? If not the world’s greatest houses have some great offerings this weekend. Among the artists performing include Placido Domingo, Juan Diego Florez, Lise Lindstorm and Francesco Meli. Austria The weekend kicks off with Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” at the Vienna State Opera. The production stars Aida Garifullina and Juan {…}