Eleonora Buratto, Javier Camarena & Francesco Meli Lead Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 Season

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 {…}

May 17, 2023

Corinne Winters, Louise Alder, Elina Garança & Barbara Hannigan Lead Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia’s 2023-24 Season

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 {…}

Apr 4, 2023

Diana Damrau, Elīna Garanča, Patricia Nolz & Fatma Said Lead Wiener Konzerthaus’ 2023-24 Season

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: {…}

Mar 21, 2023

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanash, Asmik Grigorian & Barbara Hannigan Lead London Symphony Orchestra’s 2023-24 Season

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 {…}

Mar 17, 2023

Gerald Finley Takes on Title Role in ‘Bluebeard’s Castle” at Against the Grain Theatre

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 {…}

Dec 9, 2022

Asmik Grigorian, Andrè Schuen, Michael Spyres & Renée Fleming Lead Salzburg Festival’s 2023 Season

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 {…}

Sep 15, 2022

San Francisco Opera 2022-23 Review: Antony and Cleopatra

(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 {…}

Jun 17, 2022

Will Liverman, Natalia Labourdette & Malcolm Martineau Lead New CD/DVD Releases

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 {…}

Apr 8, 2022

Metropolitan Opera 2021-22 Review: Le Nozze di Figaro

(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 {…}

Apr 5, 2022

Rolando Villazón, René Pape, Sonya Yoncheva & Michael Volle Lead Berlin State Opera’s 2022-23 Season

The Berlin State Opera has announced its 2022-23 season featuring a new Ring Cycle. The Ring Cycle Daniel Barenboim conducts a new production of Wagner’s epic The Ring Cycle by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” is set to star Michael Volle, Lauri Vasar, Siyabonga Maqungo, Rolando Villazón, Claudia Mahnke, Anett Fritsch, Anna Kissjudit, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Stephan Rügamer, Mika Kares, {…}

Mar 15, 2022

Bayerische Staatsoper Makes Cast Change for ‘Nozze di Figaro’

The Bayerische Staatsoper has made a cast change for its upcoming production of “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Per OWL Artist Management, mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson will be taking over the role of Cherubino for the March 15, 2022 performance; she will be replacing Samantha Hankey. She will join a cast starring Gerald Finley, Olga Bezsmertna, Katharina Konradi, Luca Pisaroni, Katja Pieweck, {…}