The Hungarian State Opera is set to conclude its 2018-19 season with a Puccini festival. The three-week Puccini Festival will showcase all of the famed Italian composer’s stage and vocal works. The festival kicks off with “Manon Lescaut” followed by “Tosca.” “La Fanciulla del West” will continue with “Madama Butterfly” and “La Rondine” after. “Edgar,” “La Bohème,” “Il Trittico” and” {…}
The Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege has announced its 2019-20 season featuring nine operas, six of which are new productions. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” opens the season in a new production by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera. Two casts will be led under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, featuring Svetlana Aksenova and Yasko Sato sharing the title role, Alexey Dolgov and Dominick Chenes {…}
Aleksandrs Antonenko has withdrawn from a revival production of Verdi’s “Otello” at the Opéra de Paris. The company announced that due to health reasons, the tenor would not be able to perform. As a result, Roberto Alagna and Gregory Kunde will replace the Latvian tenor. Alagna, who recently performed the production will take over the April 4 performance, while Kunde, {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced its 2019-20 season, which includes six new productions and a whopping 58 operas overall. There are also a plethora of concert performances as well featuring some of the greatest opera stars on the planet. New Productions The new season kicks off with a new production of Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Directed by Irina {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season, which will include six new productions and dozens of revivals with some of opera’s greatest stars. New Productions The first new production of the season will be Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino.” The production will be directed by Frank Castorf and will star Russell Thomas and Marcelo Alvarez as Don Alvaro. {…}
On March 14, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera raised the curtain on the next run of performances for its new production of Saint-Saens’ “Samson et Dalila.” Darko Tresnjak’s vision of ancient Israel is one that is both strange and stunning. While there is much to be savored visually, many aspects overplay certain elements of the opera, while not giving their due {…}
Update: The Met Opera has announced that Kunde will sing all of performances that Antonenko was originally scheduled to sing. Tenor Gregory Kunde returned to the Metropolitan Opera on March 13, 2019, surprising audience members. The American tenor replaced Aleksandrs Antonenko in the second and third Act of “Samson et Dalila.” At the curtain call prior to the second act, {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced its 2019-20 season with numerous new productions, revivals, rarely performed works and concerts by some of the biggest stars in the world. Franc Aleu makes his operatic debut directing a new production of Puccini’s “Turandot” with Irene Theorin in the title role alongside Jorge de Leon and Ermonela Jaho as Liù. Lise Linstrom {…}
Happy New Year! It’s the first weekend of the year and we’ve got one packed with many operatic classics and some rarities. We’re also excited to see one of today’s greatest mezzos celebrate her 30th anniversary at the Zurich theater. Here is a look at what’s in store for you to see. Andrea Chénier – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Gregory Kunde, Luca Salsi, {…}
Even though 2018 is coming to an end, there is a lot of opera to look forward to in 2019. There will be even more stars, world premieres, new productions, and rarely performed works that will be showcased throughout the world. In celebration of the new year, let’s take a look at the operas OperaWire believes are not be missed {…}
There was a rather sad preamble to the premiere of Puccini’s “Turandot” at Teatro Real on the 30th of November, 2018, largely due to the cancelation of Nina Stemme in the title role. The Swedish dramatic soprano had just scored a major success during the run of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London {…}