It is time to wrap up the year and look back at our favorite moments and performers. After releasing our favorite performances of 2025 and showcasing our rising stars of the year, it’s time for OperaWire’s annual tradition of naming our top singers of the year, honoring the opera stars that had major, and in some cases, career-defining, years. So without further ado {…}
(Photo: © Vito Lorusso / Teatro alla Scala) During the Classical period, audiences entertained themselves with theatrical farces, literary comedies and other artistic forms that, besides amusing, also served as social critique. “Così fan tutte,” premiered in Vienna in 1790, is a direct heir to that tradition. Mozart’s work explores seduction, fidelity and the illusion of love. Its characters take {…}
The Verbier Festival has announced its 2026 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Final Scene from “Götterdämmerung” with Michelle DeYoung. The program also includes Messiaen’s “Turangalîla-Symphoni” with Cécile Lartigau and Lucas Debargue. Performance Date: July 17, 2026 Gábor Takács-Nagy conducts Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” with Johanna Wallroth, Rebecka Wallroth, Anna El-Khashem, Giovanni Sala, {…}
(The Royal Opera ©2025 Marc Brenner) By the time I got to the Royal Opera and Ballet’s new production of “Tosca” at the end of September, most of the hubbub had died down. The protests around Netrebko’s performance had withered, and her performance was acclaimed – the diva triumphant in the face of politics. So too had dissolved important questions {…}
(Credit: Marco Brenner) The Royal Opera House is set to bring Puccini’s “Tosca” to cinemas on Oct. 1, 2025. The new production by Oliver Mears is conducted by Music Director Jakub Hrůša and stars Anna Netrebko, Freddie De Tommaso, and Gerald Finley. When the production opened on Sept 11, critics raved and said, Netrebko’s “‘Vissi d’arte’ was excellent, dripping with {…}
(Credit: Marc Brenner) I’ve previously opined that Puccini’s Tosca is perhaps among the least plausible of tales in the repertory and that the problem with long-running or much revived productions is that, unless you can constantly attract new audiences, they can only stand the test of time for so long. This Oliver Mears’ exciting new production has the potential to {…}
Broadstage will present a five-language journey with baritone Gerald Finley on June 11, 2025. Finley will headline alongside pianist Bryan Wagorn in a program that features works by Grieg, Barber, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Ives, Rachmaninoff, Duparc, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Respighi, Wood, Rossini, Verdi, and Wagner. The concert kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Here is a clip of Finley performing Iago’s {…}
Drawn from two live performances in 2024, the Decca release of “The Flying Dutchman” arrives with no small sense of occasion. Its cast alone—Lise Davidsen, Gerald Finley, Stanislas de Barbeyrac—promises one of the most congenial pairings in recent memory. “The Flying Dutchman” has always occupied a somewhat ambivalent place in the Wagnerian discography: too early to be “Tristan,” too compact {…}
(Photo Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) Antony and Cleopatra. The two icons have long been mythologized throughout history, their story captured in theater, cinema, and even the opera. In fact, the story of the lovers is forever linked to the Metropolitan Opera and its new house. And unfortunately, it isn’t always a heroic story. To this day, we hear {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2025 season. Here is a list of the vocal performances. Sakari Oramo conducts the First Night of the Proms with soloists Lisa Batiashvili, Caspar Singh, and Gerald Finley. The program includes music by Arthur Bliss, Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, Errollyn Wallen, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Performance Date: July 18, 2025 Tenor Allan Clayton gives {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, two of the most famous divas release new albums, both from important concert performances. There are also some world premiere recordings, a Puccini work, and a baroque video recording. Pergolesi: Stabat Mater Deutsche Grammophon continues its joint label Verbier Festival Gold. {…}