The Arena di Verona has announced a cast change for its production of Verdi’s “Aida” on June 20, 2025. The company said that Gregoy Kunde will sing the role of Radames, replacing Luciano Ganci, who is ill. Kunde took to social media and said, “Excited to be on my way to Verona today! I’m delighted to be joining my dear {…}
The Teatro Municipale di Piacenza has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “Stiffelio” featuring Gregory Kunde, Lidia Fridman, Vladimir Stoyanov, and Riccardo Rados. Leonardo Sini conducts the production by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Performance Dates: Dec. 19 & 21, 2025 Markus Werba leads Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Renzo Ran, Claudia Pavone, Marco Ciaponi, Carmela Remigio, Tommaso Barea, Alberto Petricca, and Greta Doveri. Enrico Pagano conducts the production by Andrea Bernard. Performance {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “Otello,” starring Brian Jadge, Jorge de León, and Angelo Villari in the title role. The cast includes Igor Golovatenko, Artur Ruciński, Gabriele Viviani, Airam Hernández, Asmik Grigorian, and Maria Agresta. Nicola Luisotti and Giuseppe Mentuccia conduct the production by David Alden. Performance Dates: Sept. {…}
The Opéra National de Paris has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Puccini’s “La Bohème,” featuring Nicole Car, Yaritza Véliz, Charles Castronovo, Joshua Guerrero, Andrea Carroll, Étienne Dupuis, Xiaomeng Zhang, and Alexandros Stavrakakis. Domingo Hindoyan conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 12-Oct. 14, 2025 Cecilia Molinari leads Handel’s “Ariodante” alongside Luca Tittoto, Jacquelyn Stucker, Sabine Devieilhe, Rupert Charlesworth, Christophe Dumaux, {…}
The Arena di Verona has announced its 2025 season. Verdi’s “Nabucco” will get a new production. Stefano Poda will direct the new production. Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Youngjun Park, Luca Salsi, and Igor Golovatenko lead the cast that includes Anna Pirozzi, Maria José Siri, Anna Netrebko, and Olga Maslova as Abigaille, Francesco Meli and Galeano Salas as Ismaele. The cast is rounded out by Roberto {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. As the holiday season arrives, this week also features several high-profile recordings by superstars including a Christmas album that features many classics. Schubert Lieder Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky releases a new album of Schubert Lieder. In a statement, he said, “Schubert’s music has been {…}
The Teatro Regio di Parma has announced its 2025 season. Verdi’s “Giovanna d’Arco” opens the season with Luciano Ganci, Nino Machaidze, and George Petean. Michele Gamba conducts the production by Emma Dante. Performance Dates: Jan. 24-Feb. 1, 2025 Pier Luigi Pizzi’s production of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” returns with Davide Luciano, Maria Kataeva, Ruzil Gatin, Roberto de Candia, and {…}
The Teatro Regio di Torino has announced its 2024-25 season. “Manon” Renato Palumbo conducts Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” with Arnaud Bernard directing. The cast will include Erika Grimaldi, Dinara Alieva, Andeka Gorrotxategui, Carlo Ventre, Carlo Lepore, and Alessandro Luongo. Performance Dates: Oct. 1-26, 2024 Massenet’s “Manon” wil star Ekaterina Bakanova, Martina Russomanno, Bjorn Burger Maxim Lisiin, Atalla Ayan, Andrei Danilov, Roberto {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, audiences will get to hear several world premieres, rarities, and several complete opera recordings. Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut C Major releases Puccinios’ breakthrough opera with a cast that includes Liudmyla Monastyrska, David Bizic, Gregory Kunde, and Carlos Chausson. The Gran Teatre {…}
The Semperoper Dresden has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Arrigo Boito’s “Mefistofele” is conducted by Andrea Battistoni and directed by Eva-Maria Höckmayr. The production will star Krzysztof Bączyk, Bekhzod Davronov, Marjukka Tepponen, and Martina Gedeck. Performance Dates: Sept. 28-Oct. 24, 2024 Richard Strauss’s “Intermezzo” will be conducted by Patrick Hahn and directed by Axel Ranisch. The cast will include Maria {…}
The Festival Verdi is set to present a recital featuring Gregory Kunde and Francesca Dotto on Oct. 11, 2023. The program will be held at the Teatro Girolamo Magnani di Fidenza and will include excerpts from “Macbeth,” “La Traviata,” “I Vespri Siciliani,” “Luisa Miller,” “Ernani,” “La Forza del Destino,” and “Otello.” There will also be six romances from 1846. The {…}