(Photo: © Ruth Walz) A couple of weeks ago, I had a lovely conversation with one of the dramaturgists of Salzburg Festival’s production of Verdi’s “Falstaff.” He pinpointed how strange it is for a dramaturg to hear that the staging for this production did not work, but the music did. To him, music and theater are part of the same {…}
Against the Grain Theatre and the Canadian Opera Company led the Dora Award’s Opera Division. The Canadian Opera Company’s production of “Macbeth” took home Outstanding Musical Direction for Speranza Scappucci, as well as Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble for its Chorus. The company also won Outstanding Achievement in Design for David Finn’s lighting in the David McVicar production. Meanwhile, Against {…}
Valencia’s Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 season featuring opera, recitals, concerts, and zarzuela. Opera Dima Orsho and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto star in “Women at Point Zero.” Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2023 James Gaffigan conducts Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” in Richard Jones’ production. The cast includes Arsen Soghomonyan, Doris Soffel, Ekaterina Guseva, Elena Maximova, Roman Burdenko, and Nikolay Zemlianskikh. Performance {…}
The Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has announced its 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Concerts Jakub Hrůša conducts Corinne Winters, Richard Samek, and Roman Hoza in a Smetana and Dvořák program. Performance Dates: Oct. 19-21, 2023 Matthias Goerne performs selections from Mahler’s “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” under Manfred Honeck. The program also includes {…}
The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Riccardo Chailly conducts a Verdi program with the chorus and orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala. Performance Date: Sept. 4, 2023 The Bayerisches Staatsorchester will perform alongside Yefim Bronfman and Elsa Dreisig in a Schumann, Wagner, and Mahler program. Vladimir Jurowski conducts. Performance Date: {…}
The London Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2023-24 season. For this article, here is a look at the vocal performances. Barbara Hannigan and Fleur Barron lead a concert that includes music by Haydn, Strauss, Ligeti, Luigi Nono, and Claude Vivier. Performance Dates: Sept. 14 & 17, 2023 Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” will be conducted by Barbara Hannigan. The concert will also {…}
Photo credit: Theatre of Sound Gerald Finley will perform the title role of Bluebeard in Against the Grain Theatre’s upcoming performance of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.” Mezzo-soprano Charlotte Hellekant will join Finley as Judith. They will present the modern retelling which the Theatre of Sound first produced. This version depicts the love between a long-married couple and their struggles with the {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2023 season featuring operas, concerts, recitals, and Mozart programs. Opera Raphaël Pichon will conduct Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in a new production by Martin Kušej. Andrè Schuen, Adriana González, Sabine Devieilhe, Krzysztof Bączyk, and Lea Desandre star. Performance Dates: July 27-August 28, 2023 Verdi’s “Macbeth” will be conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and directed {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver) “I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life.” So sings Cleopatra in John Adams’ “Antony and Cleopatra.” The baser life about which Cleopatra sings is everything that is not she and everything that was not Antony. So Adams tells us in the latest from his roster of remarkable operas. San Francisco Opera {…}
This week audiences can check out new works, full opera performances, and debut albums. Fire Shut Up in My Bones The Met releases Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmon’s opera with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting a cast led by Will Liverman, Angel Blue, and Latonia Moore. OperaWire noted that the opera was a “masterpiece.” The Complete Songs of Duparc Malcolm Martineau presents {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) In the opera world, it’s a common cliché to think that Mozart, because of the simplicity of his music, is “easy to perform.” That’s often why we see opera conservatories and universities often take on his masterpieces for performances. But in my view, nothing is more challenging than Mozart. Not only is the music itself complex in {…}