The Royal Opera House has announced the cast details for its Japan 2024 tour. “It’s a pleasure to be bringing these incredible works to Japan – with two stellar casts, our Royal Operas Chorus and of course Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,” said Music Director Antonio Pappano, who will conduct all the performances on the tour, in an official {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences are in for two full recordings of well-known works with some of the world’s greatest singers. There are also choral recoridngs and some less known works to discover. Heaven to Earth Signum Classics releases Heaven to Earth, a collection of singable, {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid continued its run of “Rigoletto” with a second cast under the musical direction of Nicola Luisotti. Since our earlier review of the first cast already explores the production itself, we will jump right into an analysis of the vocal performances. Étienne Dupuis was a lyrical Rigoletto, but far too lyrical. His warm and effortless timbre {…}
(Credit: Royal Opera) I suppose anything with “Destiny” in the title will always be a bit profound. In fact, “La Forza” is about as profound and gloomy, if not downright dark as it gets, even by Verdi’s standards. At around four and a half hours, it’s also his longest work. It’s a story of love, death, and revenge. Mainly revenge. {…}
It has been a while since Decca released a solo recital with Joseph Calleja. “The Magic of Manotvani,” some sort of a crossover, dates from 2020 while his last properly operatic release, “Verdi,” goes all the way back to 2018. Yet the British label has all but forgotten about its spearhead tenor who, with “Ave Maria,” makes a beautifully toned but no less {…}
(Credit: tim osipov) Anna Netrebko is set to perform Verdi’s “La Traviata” on Sept. 6, 2023 in a concert performance. The performance will mark the first time Netrebko sings the iconic opera in Austria since 2009. It also comes nearly 20 years after her breakout turn in Salzburg in 2005. The soprano famously performed the opera at the San Francisco {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid has announced its 2023-24 season featuring a wide array of repertoire. Opera Maria Agresta, Saioa Hernández, and Maria Pia Piscitelli star in Cherubini’s “Medea“ alongside Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Silvia Tro Santafé, Jongmin Park, Alexander Vinogradov, Sara Blanch, Marina Monzó, Enea Scala, and Francesco Demuro. Ivor Bolton conducts the production by Paco Azorín. Performance Dates: Sept. {…}
The Wigmore Hall has announced its 2023-24 season headlining some of the greatest recitalists and vocalist in the world. Opera Rara: present Donizetti and Friends with Lawrence Brownlee, Etienne Dupuis, and Carlo Rizzi. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Asmik Grigorian and Lukas Geniušas perform Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Ensemble Modern and George Benjamin perform music by {…}
Nicole Car and Étienne Dupuis have joined the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute as co-artistic directors. This year’s “Intensive Summer Program” for opera singers, young pianists and conductors runs from July 9th to August 4th, 2023 and includes lessons with the faculty’s teachers, seminars, private coachings as well as masterclasses with other renowned international artists such as Michael Fabiano. The program {…}
This review is for the performance of January 21, 2023 Unearthing the bodies of “Il Trovatore,” La Fura dels Baus and Àlex Ollé found the first great war. This is not a literary metaphor used by this pedantic critic, but what actually was presented in the stage. Large tombs are raised and lowered into rows of graves on the stage {…}
The Opéra National de Paris is set to present Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” starting on Jan. 21, 2023. The opera, which will run through Feb. 17, 2023 for nine performances, will be conducted by Carlo Rizzi. It will star Anna Pirozzi as Leonora with Yusif Eyvazov as Manrico. In the role of Il Conte di Luna, audiences will see Étienne Dupuis. {…}