Opera for Peace has announced that several of opera’s greatest stars are joining the organization as ambassadors and advisors. Tenor René Barbera and sopranos Elsa Dreisig and Joyce El-Khoury have become the organization’s newest ambassadors. Meanwhile, conductor Fabio Luisi, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, and baritone Ludovic Tézier have signed on as Advisors; they join baritone Thomas Hampson and soprano Sumi Jo, who {…}
The Metropolitan Opera’s At-Home Gala was one of the most hotly anticipated performances of the first half of 2020; one might argue that given its sheer star power, the showcase, which was announced just two weeks ago, was more anticipated than any performance the Met had lined up as part of its regular season. While the Met initially reneged on {…}
Opera Arias is organizing a takeover festival showcasing a number of opera stars in their living rooms. The festival will be held every Saturday and will begin with Brian Jagde on April 4. He will be followed by Spanish tenor and rising star Pablo Garcia-Lopez on April 11. On the third week of April Jennifer Rowley will take over on {…}
(Credit: Lena Kern/Sonya Garza/Yan Bleney) With the opera world as we know it going silent, opera houses have begun streaming performances from their archives. Companies have released dress rehearsals, archival audio, and in many cases launched streaming services that show off today’s greatest performers. It’s been, in many ways, a group effort to keep opera fans continuously entertained in this {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a number of new productions revivals. Here is a look. Domingo Hindoyan and Keri-Lynn Wilson lead performances of Bizet’s “Carmen” with Clémentine Margaine, Elīna Garanča, and Varduhi Abrahamyan sharing the title role and Vittorio Grigolo and Charles Castronovo as Don José. Adam Plachetka and Lucas Meachem alternate as Escamillo, {…}
(Credit: Yan Bleney) Soprano Nicole Car and Étienne Dupuis do not like to be apart. The two stars, who are currently at the Metropolitan Opera individually taking on two thirds of the Da Ponte and Mozart trilogy, not only share a home, a two-year-old boy, and as many productions as they can, but this very interview. When it was proposed {…}
(Photo: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera revealed its 2020-21 season on Wednesday afternoon. Among the major announcements were the company’s schedule for its ever-popular Live in HD slate. Here is a look at the list of performances that will be broadcast to audiences around the world. Aida (Oct. 10, 2020): Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s new production {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled its 2020-21 season, which features five new productions and 17 revivals. New Productions Anna Netrebko opens the Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Verdi’s “Aida” directed by Michael Mayer. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the production which also stars Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała, Dmitry Belosselskiy and Ludovic Tezier. The production will also showcase Latonia Moore and {…}
Richard Eyre’s production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Metropolitan Opera is far from perfect. But what it has proven to be over the years, is durable and a blast for audiences and performers alike. Despite its metallic set that seems to swallow up sound from the stage, there is no doubt that its revivals are often fantastic experiences {…}
(Credit: Yan Bleney) Canadian baritone Étienne Dupuis will replace Polish singer Mariusz Kwiecień for the final three performances of Mozart and Da Ponte’s opera “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Metropolitan Opera House, according to the official statement on the company’s website. Kwiecień has withdrawn from the production due to illness. Dupuis will perform the role of Count Almaviva on {…}
The Metropolitan Opera will revive Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” this Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. The famed worked has appeared at the Met 494 times to date with the first performance coming in 1894. This season’s revival will feature 15 total performances divided up between two conductors. Antonello Manacorda, in his company debut, will get the first slew of shows {…}