Carmela Remigio & Salome Jicia Headline Donizetti 2019 Festival

The Donizetti Festival has announced its 2019 lineup featuring three operas with star-studded casts. Roberto De Candia headlines a new project of Donizetti’s “Pietro il Grande” with Loriana Castellano, Paola Gardina, Francisco Brito, and Marco Filippo Romano. Rinaldo Alessandrini conducts Ondadurto Teatro – Marco Paciotti e Lorenzo Pasquali’s new production. Performance Dates: Nov. 15-Dec. 1, 2019 Jean-Luc Tingaud conducts the first-ever production of {…}

Mar 25, 2019

René Pape, Elīna Garanča & Karita Mattila Headline Staatsoper Berlin’s 2019-20 Season

The Staatsoper Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season, which will feature 10 new productions in addition to numerous revivals. Production premieres It all starts with Otto Nicolai’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” with Daniel Barenboim conducting and David Bösch. René Pape will interpret the role of Falstaff with the remaining cast members including Michael Full, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Pavol Breslik, Linard {…}

Mar 25, 2019

Jonas Kaufmann, Elīna Garanča & Philippe Jaroussky Headline Théâtre Champs-Élysée’s 2019-20 Season

The Théâtre Champs-Élysée has announced its 2019-20 season featuring five opera productions, numerous concert performances, operas in concerts, a Beethoven celebration and a number of recitals. For this season announcement we have narrowed it down to only vocal or operatic performances. Here is a look at the massive season. Deborah Cohen directs a new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with {…}

Mar 7, 2019

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann & Pretty Yende Highlight Opera De Paris 2019-20 Season

The Opéra National de Paris has announced its 2019-20 seasons which will feature a total of 19 operas and the entire Ring Cycle in an all-new production. Bellini’s “I Puritani” opens the season in a production by Laurent Pelly. Elsa Dreisig takes the leading role with Javier Camarena and Francesco Demuro sharing the role of Arturo. Riccardo Frizza conducts the {…}

Feb 23, 2019

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Review: Falstaff

This review is for the performance on Feb. 22, 2019. The month of February might be the Met’s best in 2018-19. Just a few weeks ago, the company revived Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment” and it proved to be one of its great successes of the season. Propped up by star performances and a brilliant production, it has kept audiences {…}

Feb 12, 2019

Bryan Hymel Cancels Metropolitan Opera ‘Rigoletto’

Bryan Hymel has withdrawn from upcoming performances as the Duke in Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Hymel has canceled due to personal reasons. As a result, Francesco Demuro will sing the Duke in the March 6, 9, 15, and 20 performances, while Matthew Polenzani will perform on April 26, May 1, and 4; tenor Stephen Costello will sing {…}

Nov 20, 2018

Opéra National de Paris 2018–19 Review: Simon Boccanegra

During its 350th anniversary season, the Opéra National de Paris presented a new production of one of the most difficult and controversial Verdi’s operas, “Simon Boccanegra.” With a solid cast and no boundaries of interpretation, Calixto Bieito decided to tell a recklessly modernized story, with characters seemed prohibited from interacting with one another and simply had to ignore each other {…}

Nov 16, 2018

Top 5 Operas to See This Weekend – International (11/16-18)

The weekend is here and many productions have just opened. This week, we see a number of standard pieces being performed in new productions as well as some rarely performed contemporary works. We also leave the opera genre to showcase a major Zarzuela being performed in Spain. Here is a look. Satyagraha – Vlaanderen Opera, Belgium Rihab Chaieb and Peter Tantsits {…}

Nov 21, 2017

Rigoletto CD Review: Dmitri Hvorostovsky Delivers Immersive Performance In Otherwise Disappointing Package

For years Dmitri Hvorostovsky was one of the leading interpreters of “Rigoletto” around the world. And while there are many baritones in the modern era that have successfully realized one of the most complex characters of the Verdi canon, few navigated the emotional turmoil quite the way the great Russian baritone did. He brought crudeness and ugliness to his vocal {…}

Sep 23, 2017

Release Date for Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s ‘Rigoletto’ Recording Announced

The full cast for Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s first full recording of “Rigoletto” has been announced. Delos made the announcement via Twitter, noting that the new album is slated for release on Nov. 10, 2017 and will also showcase Nadine Sierra as Gilda, Francesco Demuro as the Duke of Mantua, Andrea Mastroni as Sparafucille, and Oksana Volkova as Maddalena. Constantine Orbelain conducts {…}

Feb 17, 2017

Weekend Preview (International) – 2/17-19: Jose Cura Stars as Wagner’s ‘Tannhauser’ and Anna Netrebko Continues In ‘Il Trovatore’

It’s the weekend and that means there is a lot to see around the world. For opera goers the houses will offer lots of Puccini, Verdi and Mozart. There will also be Rossini, Berg and Janáček for the most adventurous opera lovers. Check it out! Austria At the Wiener Staatsoper audiences will be able to hear two of the most popular {…}