Maria Agresta, Claudio Sgura, Iwona Sobotka, Giuseppina Bridelli, Simone Piazzola & Marco Filippo Romano Lead Teatro Comunale di Modena’s 2026-27 Season

The Teatro Comunale di Modena has announced its 2026-27 season. Alexey Zelenkov, Simon Lim, Marily Santoro, and Paolo Antonio Nevi star in Verdi’s “Macbeth” with Giuseppe Finzi conducting and Fabio Ceresa directing. Performance Dates: Oct. 30 & Nov. 1, 2026 Claudio Sgura, Sorin Coliban, Olga Maslova, Ian Koziara, Paolo Antognetti, and Ester Ferraro star in Wagner’s “Der fliegende Holländer.” Martijn Dendievel {…}

Apr 17, 2026

Anastasia Bartoli, Günther Groissböck, Carlo Vistoli Max Emanuel Cencic, Ambur Braid, Vera-Lotte Boecker & Julia Lezhneva Lead Theater an der Wien’s 2026-27 Season

The Theater an der Wien has announced its 2026-27 season. Christina Pluhar conducts Cavalli’s “La Calisto” with Stefan Herheim directing. Vera-Lotte Boecker, Milan Siljanov, Luciana Mancini, Arnaud Gluck, Giuseppina Bridelli, Marcel Beekman, Renato Dolcini, Jake Arditti, Juan Sancho, and João Fernandes star. Performance Dates: Sept. 6-28, 2026 Luciana Mancini, Eszter Vörös, and Éva Gárdos perform Corazon Abierto featuring Tangos. Performance Date: {…}

Mar 26, 2026

Teatro Comunale Di Modena 2025-26 Review: La Carnaval

(Photo: Roland Paolo Guerzoni) Although Lully was a Florentine by birth, his entire professional career was spent in France in the employ of Louis XIV, where he rose to become the Superintendent of the King’s M usic and the leading figure in the development of French opera. In Italy, however, his theatrical works, including his operas, have never taken root and {…}

Feb 12, 2026

Opéra Royal de Versailles 2025-26 Review: Atys

(Photo: Baptiste Lacaze) Lully’s “Atys” is said to have been Louis XIV’s favorite opera. Using a libretto by Philippe Quinault (1635-1688), “Atys” is based on the story of Attis from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” In the original story, Atys/Attis is a handsome Phrygian youth beloved by the goddess Cybèle. She demands his absolute fidelity but he betrays her with a nymph. As {…}

Dec 9, 2025

Ravenna Festival Review 2025: Alcina

(Photo: Zani-Casadio) Is it a wise decision to perform two independent works by the same composer on consecutive nights, using a very similar cast, the same stage director, the same basic set, similar or in some cases the same costumes with the same musical director and orchestra? Well, this is exactly what the Ravenna Festival decided to do for its stagings {…}

Jul 23, 2025

Festival Aix-en-Provence 2025 Review: La Calisto

(Photo: Monika Rittershaus) By the middle of the second act, a third of the audience had already gone home. They were not necessarily bored—some complained that the seats were too harsh on their spines; others that, because the opera started so late, they were unwilling to return home well after midnight. The fact is, this production of “La Calisto” did {…}

Jul 22, 2025

Anna Netrebko, Edgardo Rocha, Zuzana Marková & Giuseppina Bridelli Lead New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back to another look at the latest CD and DVD releases of the week. This week audiences will get a new release from Anna Netrebko for the first time in two years, a world premiere video recording of a rare work by Donizetti, and a complete performance of a Bach work on YouTube. Giacomo Puccini: Turandot Anna Netrebko’s acclaimed {…}

Jul 8, 2025

Artist of the Week: Giuseppina Bridelli

This week, teh Festival Aix-en-Provence is set to open a new production of “La Calisto.” The work, which is rarely performed, will see mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Bridelli, who is a highly regarded singer of the Baroque repertoire. The Italian mezzo will make her role debut as Diana a year after making her festival debut in Aix. Regarding the role, Bridelli said, {…}

Jun 25, 2025

Paul Figuier, Lauranne Oliva, Apolline Raï-Westphal, Victoire Bunel, Jeanne Mendoche Star in Opéra de Rennes’ 2025-26 Season

The Opéra de Rennes has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Bertrand Cuiller conducts Handel’s “Rinaldo” with a cast that includes Paul Figuier, Mathilde Ortscheidt, Maïlys De Villoutreys, Camille Poul, and Damien Pass. Performance Date: August 30, 2025 Cavalli’s “La Calisto” will star Lauranne Oliva, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Milan Siljanov, Anna Bonitatibus, Giuseppina Bridelli, Zachary Wilder, Bastien Rimondi, Dominic Sedgwick, Théo Imart, and {…}

Apr 2, 2025

Teatro La Fenice 2024-25 Review: Il trionfo dell’onore

(Photo: Michele Crosera) Although the Sicilian composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) is famed for his prolific output of operas–he claimed to have written well over 100–which were significant in laying the foundations for the development of 18th century opera seria, he rarely strayed into the field of comic opera. The single major exception was his 1718 work, “Il trionfo dell’onore,” written {…}

May 22, 2023

Q & A: Giuseppina Bridelli On Her Role Debut As Piacere In ‘Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno’ At La Fenice

At the age of 21, mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Bridelli made her professional debut in the role of Despina under the baton of Diego Fasolis, since which time she has been on what appears to be a never-ending upward trajectory. Now firmly established as one of the leading interpreters of the baroque repertoire, she is an artist constantly in demand, performing at {…}