In anticipation of its upcoming production of “Fidelio,” San Francisco Opera has released a new episode of their podcast “North Stage Door,” featuring discussions on Beethoven’s work. The episode features director Matthew Ozawa, former US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, SFO Chorus Director Ian Robertson, participants in the Prison Arts Project at San Quentin State Prison, and other guests, {…}
San Francisco Opera will continue its season with Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” The company will present a new production by Matthew Ozawa which updates its original eighteenth-century prison setting to a modern government detention center. Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts the opera which stars Elza van den Heever as Leonore, Russell Thomas, Greer Grimsley, James Creswell, and Soloman Howard. For the first time in the history of {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / Sonya Yoncheva official website / © Gregor Hohenberg / Kasskara/DG / Operabase official website / Staatsoper Berlin official website) The Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas Beethoven’s “Fidelio” will open the season. The opera stars Roman Trekel, Matthias Goerne, Pavel Černoch, Andreas Schager, Simone Schneider, {…}
(Credits: Linda Rabisch / Bethany Davis / Gerard Collett) The Glyndebourne Festival has announced its fall tour 2021 that will take place from October 8 – Dec. 12, 2021. Here is the full slate. Ludwig van Beethoven‘s only opera “Fidelio” will star Clay Hilley as Don Florestan, Callum Thorpe in the role of Rocco, Carrie-Ann Williams as Marzelline, Gavan Ring {…}
(Photo credits: © Harald Hoffmann / Chris Gloag / Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment / Nicole Car official website) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the next slate of operas that it will be presenting on its streaming platform over the next week. First up is the production of Beethoven‘s “Fidelio” starring Klaus Florian Vogt, Anja Kampe, Evgeny Nikitin, Stephen {…}
Opera North has announced new live performances. The company will present Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” which will be the first large-scale production for over a year as the Company builds back towards a fuller program of public events. The production will be staged by Matthew Eberhardt and conducted by Paul Daniel. The cast will include Rachel Nicholls as Leonore, Toby Spence as Florestan, {…}
(Photo credit: Frances Marshall) What’s opera about? Passion? Drama? Politics? Sex? All the above, of course, and it’s been that way since 1597, even in the face of censorship. Yet, the prohibitions around taboo topics such as politics and sex caused composers and librettists to get creative when including such material in their operas. Opera critic, author, and historian par {…}
(Credit: Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical) Famed tenor Jonas Kaufmann will give a recital at Teatro Real de Madrid on Jan. 14, 2021. For this occasion, Kaufmann will be accompanied by his long-term collaborator, pianist Helmut Deutsch. The program for the concert includes music by Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Dvořák, among others. The {…}
(Credit: © dpa/visitBerlin website / Gunnar Geller) The Staatsoper unter der Linden has canceled all performances until the end of January 2021. Among the performances canceled are premieres of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” with Andrew Staples, Lea Desandre and Evelin Novak, and Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” which was supposed to star Simone Schneider, Klaus Florian Vogt, René Pape and Greer Grimsley. Meanwhile, Komische Oper {…}
(Credit: © Marco Borggreve) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that bass Tareq Nazmi will take over the role of Bottom in the upcoming run of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Nazmi will replace bass Matthew Rose. Nazmi will join a cast that includes Lawrence Zazzo in the role of Oberon, Erin Morley as Tytania, Josh Lovell in the role {…}
(Credits: Andreas Schager official website / Polina Plotnikova) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that heldentenor Andreas Schager and Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov will take part in the New Year Gala concert on Jan. 2, 2021. Schager and Vinogradov will join a cast that includes Sara Jakubiak, Anna Pirozzi, Aigul Akhmetshina, and Amartuvshin Enkhbat. The Australian-born Kapellmeister of the Deutsche {…}