(Photo: Catherine Hancock) Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) presented “Circles IV: Les Six” on Friday, January 5th 2024, at First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn. The compositions chosen for the evening were delightful examples of what made Les Six exciting, however short-lived the group proved to be. Les Six was a peculiar group consisting of Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, {…}
(Photo: Richard Hubert Smith) Whether you like Barrie Kosky’s stagings or not, they always have an enormous presence. Think of the Marlene Dietrich-inspired gorilla suit in his “Carmen” for the Royal Opera House, the inflatable Beckmesser caricature in the Nuremberg trial “Meistersinger”, or the eerie sea of ash and candles in his “Saul” for Glyndebourne. The latter, highly acclaimed, meant {…}
(Credit: © Arielle Doneson / Hilbert Management / Patrick Allen / Claire Mc Adams) The Houston Grand Opera will perform Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” in January 2022. The opera will star Christine Goerke in the role of Madame Lidoine, Natalya Romaniw as Blanche, Lauren Snouffer as Sister Constance, Patricia Racette as Madame Croissy, and Jennifer Johnson Cano as Mother Marie. {…}
Radio France has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article we will focus only on the vocal works. Here is a look. Operas Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortilèges” spotlights Jodie Devos, Clara Guillon, Adèle Charvet, Marie Lenormand, Élodie Méchain, Antoine Normand, Régis Mengus, and Paul Gay. Mikko Franck conducts. Performance date: Oct. 1, 2021, Philharmonie de Paris {…}
(Credits: © Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment / © Tatiana Vlasova / © Dario Acosta) The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2021-22 season featuring a variety of concerts from some of the world’s greatest performers. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the vocal {…}
(Credit: Chris Randle / City Opera Vancouver) On March 26, City Opera Vancouver released the comic cantata “Perruqueries” on the company’s YouTube channel. Composed by Jocelyn Morlock to Bill Richardson’s libretto, the video work explores wigs and the people who wear them. Viewing is free. Storied wig-wearers Bobby Hull, Andy Warhol, and Galina Vishnevskaya, among others, get combed over in {…}
(Credits: © Carmine Maringola / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Erwin Schrott / Dario Acosta / Francesco Squeglia) Italian television channel Rai5 has announced broadcasts for the week of Jan. 18 – Jan. 22, 2021. The broadcasts will be dedicated to the director Emma Dante’s opera stagings. The only opera in the slate that was not directed by {…}
(Credit: Jason Homa) The ABAO Bilbao Ópera has announced that it will present a series of concerts, with the first taking place in February 2021. Between February and May 2021, six recitals will be held in collaboration with different institutions in Bilbao, such as the Euskaduna Palace or the Bilbao Philharmonic Society. Famed soprano Lisette Oropesa will open the series {…}
The Royal College of Music (RCM) announced additional details about its upcoming two-part series, Opera Scenes. RCM selected works from across the repertoire that touch on themes of isolation, separation, and resolution. The premiere of Opera Scenes will stream on the College’s YouTube channel and Facebook page on Nov. 27 and 28 at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. The Nov. {…}
(Credit: Jason Daniel Shaw) The Teatro Massimo di Palermo has announced that the recital of Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci scheduled for Nov. 15, 2020 has been redesigned due to the ongoing concerns over COVID-19. The new program will include Tosti’s “Quattro canzoni d’Amaranta,” Ottorino Respighi’s “Liriche,” “Venezia” by Reynaldo Hahn, and Francis Poulenc’s “La voix humaine.” Donald Sulzen will {…}
(Credits: © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Jiyang Chen) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced that it has cancelled the whole run of Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” that was on the schedule for Nov. 14 – Nov. 22, 2020 due to the current COVID-19 situation. The opera was set to star Ermonela Jaho, Adrianne Pieczonka, and Doris Soffel. Instead, {…}