Diana Damrau & Carmen Giannattasio Lead Top 5 Operas To See This Weekend Internationally (1/25-27)

This weekend is all about standard repertoire pieces with some of the world’s greatest stars. La Bohème – Opera de Monte Carlo, Monaco Daniele Callegari conducts Jean-Louis Grinda’s production of Puccini, Giacoso, and Illica’s most popular work. The cast stars acclaimed soprano Irina Lungu, Mariam Battistelli, Andeka Gorrotxategi, Davide Luciano, Boris Pinkhasovich, Nicolas Courjal, Fabrice Alibert, and Guy Bonfiglio. Lucia {…}

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2017-18 Review – La Traviata: Kristina Mkhitaryan’s Outstanding Violetta Gains the Russian Soprano “Prima Donna Assoluta” Status

The Deutsche Oper Berlin has long been a mecca for iconoclast regie theater directors ranging from Hans Neuenfels and Claus Guth to Ole Anders Tandberg, whose recent staging of “Carmen” had more viscera on the stage than verismo. Curiously, the extant production of “La Traviata” by the former Deutsche Oper Intendant Götz Friedrich, dating back to 1999, is surprisingly uncontroversial. In his {…}