(Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez) Postponed from last year, owing to COVID restrictions, Kaija Saariaho’s new opera “Innocence” finally received its world premiere at this year’s Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and it did not disappoint. The libretto, written by Sofi Oksanen, interweaves two narratives which relate to a school shooting. One focuses on the students and their teacher who were present at the time {…}
FEDORA has announced the launch of the nominee phase for its 2021 prizes. Jury nominees in the opera category belong to Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen’s “Innocence” in a co-production by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Dutch National Opera, Finnish National Opera & Ballet, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and San Francisco Opera; Jamie Man and Peter Stamm’s “Zelle, wenn es dunkel wird” {…}
FEDORA, The European Circle of Philanthropists of Ballet and Opera, announced its shortlist of projects selected for the 2021 FEDORA Prizes. The group chose 34 projects for the public voting phase, which began on Feb. 1 and runs through Feb. 26. The voting phase determines which projects move to the next level of the competition and follows the December 2020 {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston) “One voice in a million.” This is the kind of phrase on which legacies, mythologies, histories are built. And it’s the phrase that continues to crop up whenever Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen enters the operatic conversation. The soprano has definitely played her part in bringing about this idea that her voice is of a unique power. She {…}
(Photo Credit / Source: Magdalena Kozena Facebook / Kamil Szkopik / Warner Classic) The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence has announced a revamped approach to its 202 Festival which is set to take place online due to the continued impact of COVID-19. For 10 days, audience members will get the opportunity to engage with four distinct events which will be accessible via Arte {…}
(Credit: Festival D’aix-En-Provence) On July 11, 2019, Arte is set to stream to Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” from the Festival D’Aix-En-Provence. The new production by Ivo van Hove, which is set to make its way to the Metropolitan Opera, stars Karita Mattila, Alan Oke, Sir Willard White, Annette Dasch, Nikolai Schukoff, Sean Panikkar, Thomas Oliemans, and Peixin Chen. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the {…}
(Credit: Festival d’Aix en Provence) On July 9, 2019, Mezzo TV is set to present Puccini’s “Tosca’ from the Festival D’Aix-En-Provence. The new production by Christophe Honore is set to star Angel Blue in the title role and her role debut and Catherine Malfitano as La Prima Donna. The cast is rounded out by Joseph Calleja as Cavaradossi and Alexey {…}
The Aix-en-Provence Festival has announced its 2019 festival. The season will be the first under the leadership of Pierre Audi and is set to take place from July 3 to 22, 2018. The season will be made up of five works, all of which will appear in the program of the Aix-en-Provence Festival for the first time. The Productions Mozart’s “Requiem” will {…}
OperaVision will start streaming the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence’s production of “Orfeo & Majnun” starting on July 8, 2018. The work, which is sung in English, French, and Arabic, will feature Judith Fa, Nai Barghouti, Loay Srouji, Yoann Dubruque, and Schli Gholamalizad. The music by Adwan, van der Harst, and Moody will be conducted by Bassem Akiki, leading the Intercultural Ensemble of {…}
The non-profit organization FEDORA has announced the nominees for its prizes in 2018. The aim of the organization is to support ballet and opera projects, which are able to obtain funding using the platform, which is supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe funding programme. The nominees will run a crowdfunding campaign on the platform and the winners will be {…}
“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 {…}