When I asked soprano Aida Garifullina, in an earlier interview, what dream role she aspired to sing, she responded: “To be honest, I’m singing it at the moment…‘Traviata’ is my favorite opera.” And, on the opening day of this performance, almost 30 years since Richard Eyre’s celebrated first production of it, she sang her heart and soul out to prove it. {…}
The Teatro Mssismo di Palermo has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” which will be performed for the first time in Palermo. Omer Meir Wellber conducts the opera in a production by Barbora Horáková. Performance Dates: Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2024 Mario Martone directs Verdi’s “Otello” with a cast that includes Yusif Eyvazov, Nicola {…}
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has announced its 2024-25 season. Concerts The season opens with Puccini’s “Tosca” starring Jonathan Tetelman, Eleonora Buratto, and Ludovic Tézier. Daniel Harding conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 21-26, 2024 Semyon Bychkov conducts Bach’s “Mass in B Minor” with soloists Miriam Kutrowatz, Catriona Morison, Benjamin Bruns, and Christian Immler. Performance Dates: Nov. 14-16, 2024 Dalia Stasevska {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Myung-Whun Chung conducts Verdi’s “Otello” in a new production by Fabio Ceresa. Francesco Meli sings the title role in a cast that also stars Francesca Dotto and Luca Micheletti. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 1, 2024 Marina Monzò, Francesco Demuro, and Nicola Alaimo star in Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Diego Matheuz conducts. Performance {…}
(Photo credit: Michele Crosera) Having seen more versions of “Don Giovanni” than there are sands on the beach, I can attest that the greatness of the opera is seldom undermined by a less than optimum staging. However, when the staging is good—or even great—, one feels that there is no better opera than “Don Giovanni.” The revival of Damiano Michieletto’s {…}
In the second cast of the Teatro Real de Madrid’s “Medea,” Saioa Hernandez proved a revelation. Her dramatic instrument with a bright dark timbre, her expansive vibrato, her thunderous high register, her sonorous low register in chest voice, and her fluid vocal line make her ideal for this role. Medea’s writing is mostly central, we could even say that it {…}
Deustche Grammophon’s Stage + is set to stream Nadine Sierra and Francesco Demuros’ gala concert from the Festival Cap Rocat. The company will broadcast the concert, which was filmed on the coast of Majorca earlier this month, on August 26, 2023. Demuro and Sierra were joined by the Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands and conductor Pablo Mielgo. The concert {…}
The Teatro Massimo di Palermo has announced its 2023-24 season. Opera The season opens with Bellini’s “I Capuleti e Montecchi.” Omer Meir Wellber conducts the production by Idan Cohen. The cast includes Maria Kataeva and Anna Pennisi as Romeo and Marina Monzó and Francesca Pia Vitale as Giulietta. Ioan Hotea, Mert Süngü, Marco Spotti, and Gabriele Sagona round out the {…}
The Teatro Caro Felice has announced its 2023-24 season. Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opens the season with a cast that includes Christopher Ainslie, Sydney Mancasola, Matteo Anselmi, Scott Wilde, Kamelia Kader, Peter Kirk, John Chest, Hagar Sharvit, Keri Fuge, David Shipley, David Ireland, Seumas Begg, Sion Goronwy, Robert Burt, and Benjamin Bevan. Donato Renzetti conducts the production by Laurence Dale. Performance Dates: Oct. 13-19, 2023 Dante Ferretti directs Massenet’s “Werther” with Jean-François Borras, Jérôme {…}
The Opéra National de Paris is set to present a new production of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” this June. The production, which opens on June 17 and runs through July 15 at the Opéra Bastille (the first time the opera gets showcased at the theater), will be directed by Thomas Jolly. Carlo Rizzi will conduct two different casts. The first {…}
The Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville has announced its 2023-24 season. Opera Henrik Nánási conducts a new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” by Allex Aguilera. Stuart Skelton, Elisabet Strid, Agnieszka Rehlis, Markus Eiche, Albert Pesendorfer, Jorge Rodríguez-Norton, Fernando Campero, and Juan Antonio Sanabria star. Performance Dates: Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2023 Yolanda Auyanet and Berna Perles share the title role {…}