Bejun Mehta, Sophie Rennert, Francesca Ascioti & Giuseppina Bridelli Headline Innsbruck Festival of Early Music’s 2022 Season

(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, {…}

Dec 6, 2021

CD Review: Händel’s ‘Aci, Galatea e Polifemo’

(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 {…}

Oct 7, 2021

Roberta Mantegna, Monica Zanettin & Giovanni Sala Lead Teatro Alighieri’s 2021-22 Season

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 {…}

Oct 1, 2021

Karen Cargill, Carolyn Sampson & Nicole Chevalier Lead New CD/DVD Releases

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 {…}

Jun 17, 2021

Valentina Nafornița, Gaëlle Arquez & Franco Fagioli Headline Opéra Royal de Versailles’ 2021-22 Season

(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, {…}

May 19, 2021

Joyce DiDonato, Jonathan Tetelman, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Jakub Józef Orliński Headline Opéra National du Rhin’s 2021-22 Season

(Credits: © McQueen / Deutsche Oper am Rhein official website / © Jean-Baptiste Millot / Jiyang Chen) Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas Hans Abrahamsen’s “The Snow Queen” will spotlight Lauren Snouffer, Rachael Wilson, Helena Rasker, David Leigh, Michael Smallwood, Owen Willetts, Floriane Derthe, and Moritz Kallenberg. Robert {…}

May 15, 2021

Carmela Remigio, Lisette Oropesa, Joseph Calleja & Markus Werba Headline Festival della Valle d’Itria’s 2021 Season

The Festival Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Italy has announced its 47 edition with the theme “Fiat lux.” The festival which will be held between July 17 and August 5 will feature international stars from around the world. Operas Haydn’s “The Creation” will be conducted by Fabio Luisi and will feature Vassily Solodkyy, Alessio Arduini, Jan Antem, and Sabrina Sanza. Fabio {…}

Mar 26, 2021

Teatro de la Maestranza Cancels Performance of ‘Argippo’ & Announces Broadcast

(Credit: https://www.andalucia.org/) The Teatro de la Maestranza has announced the cancellation of several performances between March 26 and April 9, 2021. The cancellations come as a result of new restrictive measures imposed by health authorities of the Junta de Andalucía in Seville due to ongoing concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Among the canceled presentations are symphonic concerts that were {…}

Nov 16, 2020

Marina Rebeka, Michael Fabiano, Sonya Yoncheva, Deborah Nansteel, Aleksandra Kurzak Headline Top 10 Operas to Stream This Week

There’s no doubt that it hasn’t been an easy week in the opera world. With COVID-19 continuing to spread across the world at alarming rates, companies across Europe have entered a second lockdown, ending what many hoped would be a continuation of performances throughout the 2020-21 season. But it has not quite worked out that way. As such, online broadcasts {…}

Sep 12, 2020

Teatro La Fenice 2020 Review: Dido & Aeneas

(Photo: Michele Crosera) As the final bars of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” played to a close, the chorus moved from the floor of the theater to surround the body of Dido, who lies dead on a raised platform, having slit her own throat. Just behind her a dancer, dressed in a wedding dress contorted and distorted herself into positions of {…}

Sep 4, 2020

Plácido Domingo, Giuseppina Bridelli & Davinia Rodriguez Lead Fondazione Teatri Piacenza’s Fall Season

The Fondazione Teatri Piacenza has announced its 2020 fall season. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on the vocal and operatic performances. The season opens with Handel’s “Aci, Galatea e Polifemo” with Raffaele Pe, Giuseppina Bridelli, and Andrea Mastroni. La lira di Orfeo accompanies with Gian Maria Aliverta directing the production. Performance Date: Oct. 31, 2020 {…}