(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 {…}
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 {…}
The Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina has announced its 2023 season. Here is a look at the operatic vocal performances. Opera Charles Dutoit conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in a production by Romeo Castellucci. Jaquelina Livieri and Guadalupe Barrientos star. Performance Dates: March 7-12, 2023 Jan Latham-Koenig conducts a production of Gounod’s “Faust” by Stefano Poda. The cast includes {…}
Ravenna’s Teatro Dante Aligheri has announced its 2023 season. Vivaldi’s “Il Tamerlano” will be performed by Bruno Taddia, Gianluca Margheri, Filippo Mineccia, Delphine Galou, Marie Lys, Federico Fiorio, and Giuseppina Bridelli. Ottavio Dantone conducts the production by Stefano Monti. Performance Dates: Jan. 14 & 15, 2023 Puccini’s “La bohème” will star Juliana Grigoryan, Alessia Pintossi, Alessandro Scotto di Luzio, Christian Federici, Clemente Antonio Daliotti, {…}
The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2022-23 season. Opera Nicola Alaimo leads Verdi’s “Falstaff” alongside Vladimir Stoyanov, René Barbera, Selene Zanetti, Caterina Sala, Sara Mingardo, and Veronica Simeoni. Myung-Whun Chung conducts the production by Adrian Noble. Performance Dates: Nov. 18-26, 2022 Bruno Maderna’s “Satyricon” will star Francesca Gerbasi, Matteo Ferrara, Manuela Custer, Christopher Lemmings, William Corrò, and Marcello Nardis. Alessandro {…}
The Palau de la Musica Orfeo Catala has announced its 2022-23 season featuring many operatic performances and vocal highlights. Here is a look. Marta Mathéu and Alex Potter join the Vespres d’Arnadí and Dani Espasa for works by Händel, Porpora, Geminiani, Steffani, and Bononcini. Performance Date: Oct. 5, 2022 “Only the sound remains” by Kaija Saariaho will feature Michał Sławecki, {…}
(Credit: Innsbruck Festival of Early Music official website) The Innsbruck Festival of Early Music has announced its 2022 season, featuring three operas and a number of concerts. For the purpose of this article we will focus on the vocal works. Here is a full slate. Operas Carl Heinrich Graun’s opera “Silla” spotlights Bejun Mehta, Eleonora Bellocci, Valer Sabadus, Roberta Invernizzi, {…}
(Photo: Gianpaolo Parodi) In 1708 Händel wrote “Aci, Galatea and Polifemo,” a serenata for three voices, as part of the celebrations to mark the marriage of Beatrice Tocco di Montemiletto and Duke D’Alvito Tolomeo III. Its narrative, taken from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” relates how the love between the shepherd Aci and the nymph Galatea enrages the cyclops Polifemo, who in a {…}
The Teatro Alighieri di Ravenna in Itay has announced its 2021-22 season featuring Dance and Opera. For the purposes of this article, we will focus solely on the operatic performances. The season opens with Haydn’s “L’isola disabitata” with Ensemble Dolce Concento, led by Nicola Valentini with Jacopo Raffaele at the fortepiano performing. The cast will include Giuseppina Bridelli, Anna Maria {…}
This week audiences will get two full opera recordings and two recital albums. Here is a look at this week’s new releases. Thaïs Unitel and C Major will release Massenet’s opera from January 2021. The production was directed by Peter Konwitschny and conducted by Leo Hussain. Nicole Chevalier and Josef Wagner lead the cast. L’Orfeo Leonardo García Alarcón leads the {…}
(Credit: EPV / Christian Millet) Opéra Royal de Versailles has announced its 2021-22 season, featuring number of rarely performed operas and vocal works. Here is the full slate. Opera André Grétry’s opera “Richard Cœur de Lion” features Rémy Mathieu as Blondel and Pierre Derhet in the title role. The cast will be rounded out by Melody Louledjian, Marie Perbost Antonio, {…}