(Photo: Patricio Cassinoni) The Wexford Festival Opera is well-known for its commitment to exploring neglected and unearthing forgotten works written by both well-known and lesser-known composers. Although it has met with considerable success in this endeavor, inevitably there have been one or two failures along the way; after all, many such operas are not performed for very good reasons! Two {…}
The Welsh National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Verdi’s “Rigoletto” is set to be conducted by Pietro Rizzo and directed by Adele Thomas. Leonardo Capalbo, Daniel Luis de Vicente, Soraya Mafi, and Natalia Kutateladze star. Performance Dates: Sept. 21, 2024-Feb. 22, 2025 Puccini’s “Il Trittico“ returns to the stage. “Il Tabarro” will star Aluda Todua, Natalya Romaniw, and Andrés {…}
©Sandrine Expilly The world premiere of Antonio Salieri’s opera “Kubla Khan” (“Cublai, Gran Kan De Tartari”) is among the many highlights of Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques’ 2023-24 season. Here is the full rundown of what audiences can expect this year. Starting off, sopranos Marie Lys and Judith van Wanroij perform “Ave Maris Stella” with Christophe Rousset at the {…}
The Teatro Verdi Trieste has announced its 2023-24 season. Here is a look at the operas the theater will showcase. The season opens with Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” in a production by Guy Monavon. Gianna Fratta conducts a cast that includes Lana Kos and Alessandra di Giorgio, Roberto Aronica, and Murat Karahan. Fernando Cisneros and Matteo Peirone also star. Performance Dates: Nov. {…}
(Photo: ROF/Amati Bacciardi) There are many operas that rarely see the light of day. Even some works by the great composers are lucky to receive more than an occasional staging; one need only think of Wagner’s or Verdi’s early works. Often, this neglect is unjustified, but sometimes, it’s simply because the opera is not very good. Second Rate Rossini Unfortunately, {…}
(Photo: Pat Redmond) Irish National Opera continues to march forward. Although only in its fifth year, it has managed to establish itself as an innovative, forward-thinking company of high quality, which successfully mixes traditional productions with new works and modern presentation methods. Whereas many companies closed down during the COVID crisis, INO used it to showcase new short operas via {…}
(Photo: Amati Bacciadi) Rossini’s setting of “Il Signor Bruschino” to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa was the last of five one act farces Rossini wrote for Venice’s Teatro di San Moise between 1810 and 1813, and apart from “Adina” written for Lisbon in 1818, and to which he gave only cursory attention, it was a form to which he {…}
Opéra National de Bordeaux has announced its rich 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article we will focus only on vocal performances. Here is the full slate. Opera A semi-staged version of Meyerbeer‘s “Robert Le Diable” opens the season. The opera stars Erin Morley, Nicolas Courjal, Amina Edris, Nicolas Darmanin, Joel Allison, Paco Garcia, and John Osborn in the {…}
(Credits: Sony Classical / Chris Gloag / Todd Rosenberg / Elena Cherkashyna) Italian television channel Rai5 has announced broadcasts for the week of Feb. 7 – Feb. 13, 2021. The opera broadcasts will be dedicated to composer Gioachino Rossini. The stream on Feb. 7 will be dedicated to the late soprano Mirella Freni. Operas The broadcast of Cilea’s opera “Adriana {…}