(© Carlita Sari) Of Antonín Dvořák’s ten operas, “Rusalka,” written around the dawn of the twentieth century and only a few years before the composer’s death, became his most successful. That this highly romantic fairytale (or should one say, water nymph tale?) should be the most courageous of Opera Australia’s (OA) offerings for the second half of this year, tells {…}
Oper Frankfurt has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” will star Teona Todua, Karolina Bengtsson, Kelsey Lauritano, Taehan Kim, Sakhiwe Mkosana, Magnus Dietrich, Andrew Kim, Bianca Tognocchi, Elizabeth Reiter, Liviu Holender, and Sebastian Geyer. Thomas Guggeis conducts the production by Mariame Clément. Performance Dates: Sept. 21, 2025-Jan. 17, 2026 Alexander Tsymbalyuk leads Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” with Karolina {…}
The Staatsoper Hannover has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Philip Glass’s “Satyagraha” will be conducted by Masaru Kumakura and directed by Daniel Kramer. The production will star Shanul Sharma, Meredith Wohlgemuth, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Beatriz Miranda, Lluís Calvet i Pey, Markus Suihkonen, Ruzana Grigorian, Darwin Prakash, and Markus Suihkonen. Performance Dates: Sept. 6-Oct. 31, 2024 Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” will receive a new {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Of Dvorak’s 10 operas, only “Rusalka” receives regular stagings outside his Czech homeland. Listening to the recordings of his other operas, it is not clear as to why this should be the case. Certainly, the dramatic quality of the music is strong and contains plenty of engaging melodies, and they would certainly bear comparison with many operas {…}
The Wexford Festival Opera has announced its 2022 showcase, which kicks off on Oct. 21 and runs through Nov. 6, 2022. The season opens with “La Tempesta” by Halévy. The work will star Niklay Zemlianskikh, Hila Baggio, Giiorgi Manoshvili, Andrew Morstein, Jade Phoenix, Rory Musgrave, Conor Prendiville, Richard Shaffrey, and Emma Jüngling. Roberto Catalano will direct the opera with Francesco {…}
The Tiroler Festspiele Erl has announced a winter festival between Dec. 26 and Jan. 6. For this article, we will only focus on the Austrian Festival’s operatic and vocal performances. The festival will open with Mascagni’s “L’Amico Fritz” with starring Gerard Schneider, Mojca Bitenc, Nina Tarandek, Domen Križaj, Reilly Nelson, Carlos Andrés Cárdenas, and Giovanni Battista Parodi. Francesco Lanzillotta conducts {…}
Oper Frankfurt has announced its 2020-21 season. The German house will present 11 new productions and a number of revivals and recitals. New Productions Monika Buczkowska, Judita Nagyová, Peter Marsh, Simon Neil, and Alfred Reiter star in Ligeti’s “La Grand Macabre.” Sebastian Weigle conducts a production by Vasily Barkhatov. Performance Dates: Sept. 13-Oct. 17, 2020 Katharina Thoma will direct Offenbach’s {…}
Credit: Uwe Arens/Dario Acosta/Tatyana Vlasova The Staatstheater Wiesbaden has announced its 2020-21 season featuring eight new productions, the Ring Cycle and a number of important revivals. Here is a look. Premieres Konrad Junghänel conducts a new production of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Tilo Nest directing. Ioan Hotea and Antonio Garés share the role of the count while Silvia {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver) Opera lovers in Frankfurt were excited about the opening night of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the Oper Frankfurt on January 24, 2020. Christopher Maltman was in the title role, and joined Bianca Tognocchi as Gilda with Pier Giorgio Morandi conducting. The cast also included bass Barnaby Rea and mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, among others. Also making his debut {…}
The Garsington Opera has announced its 2020 season which will feature four staged operas including two repertory staples and two rarities. Here is a look. Verdi and Romani’s “Un giorno di regno” gets a new staging by Christopher Alden with Tobias Ringborg conducting. Richard Burkhard, Henry Waddington, Christine Rice, Siobhan Stagg, Konu Kim, and Grant Doyle star in the production. Performance {…}
Credit: © Wilfried Hösl/ Filip Van Roe This weekend the holiday season continues with a lot of theaters are showcasing fairy tales. For this weekend we look at some rarely performed works in new productions. Rusalka – Trioler Festspiele Erl, Austria Alexander Prior conducts of a new production of Dvorak’s masterwork by Florentine Klepper. The production is set to star Karen {…}