The Los Angeles Opera has announced the streaming slate for the week of July 5, 2020. It begins with Opera Family Time starring soprano Jamie Chamberlin and tenor Nathan Granner as they perform in an episode of “Sing Out Loud.” Streaming Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at 2 p.m. PDT Nicholas Brownlee hosts “Il TRIVIAtore” as part of the “Learn {…}
Oper Frankfurt has announced its 2020-21 season. The German house will present 11 new productions and a number of revivals and recitals. New Productions Monika Buczkowska, Judita Nagyová, Peter Marsh, Simon Neil, and Alfred Reiter star in Ligeti’s “La Grand Macabre.” Sebastian Weigle conducts a production by Vasily Barkhatov. Performance Dates: Sept. 13-Oct. 17, 2020 Katharina Thoma will direct Offenbach’s {…}
The Dutch National Opera has announced its 2020-21 season featuring new productions and a number of world premieres. Boito’s “Mefistofele” opens the season with a new production by Tatjana Gürbaca. Marco Armiliato conducts the production with Christian Van Horn in the title role, Charles Castronovo, Olga Busuioc, and Guanqun Yu. Performance Dates: Sept. 5-24, 2020 Paula Murrihy, Sandrine Piau, Tuomas {…}
Three major releases are set for this week including two major box sets from one important artist and another of a major work. The Jonas Kaufmann Collection Arthaus is set to release a collection of three DVDs starring Jonas Kaufmann. The box set will include performances of “Fidelio,” “Nina,” and “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse” from Opernhaus Zurich. Artists in the box {…}
On April 12, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera resumed it season’s run of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Occupying a rather unique space as a dramma giocoso, the work unfolds the allegorical message through often-comedic methods. The cast and crew of Friday’s performance strongly favored these comedic elements, much to the delight of the audience. Michael Grandage’s production highlights the universal nature of {…}
The Zurich Opera has announced its 2019-20 season which will feature a whopping 11 opera premieres and 17 opera revivals. Premieres “The Makropulos Case” will be the first offering of the season with Evelyn Herlitzius starring as Emilia Marty. Other cast members will include Sam Furness, Kevin Conners, Deniz Uzun, Scott Hendricks, and Spencer Lang, among others. Dmitri Tcherniakov will direct while {…}
Even before the curtain rose on this Los Angeles Opera production of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” which I saw on March 7th, 2019, I was excited by what I had read in the program booklet. LA Opera Music Director James Conlon’s article, “Clemency, Forgiveness and Love” with its emphasis on Titus’s closing message that “I know everything, absolve everyone {…}
The LA Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring six new productions, two company premieres, and one world pmiere. Here is a look at what to expect. Main Stage Barrie Kosky directs the first production of Puccini’s “La Bohème” in 25 years. Marina Costa-Jackson makes her LA Opera debut in the title role with Saimir Pirgu as Rodolfo. Erica Petroelli, {…}
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has announced its 2019 season with 10 productions all year. The Italian company is giving its native repertory most of the stage-time, with a total of seven productions this season; there are two German works and one in English, that will also appear. So let’s dive in and break it down. “Il Trovatore” opens the {…}
On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, the Metropolitan Opera opened this season’s run of Georges Bizet’s perennial masterpiece, “Carmen.” Making his debut with the Metropolitan was Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber, who is set to serve as chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019. Under his baton, the orchestra and experienced cast joined together in ways that put their {…}
On Tuesday, Oct. 30, the Met Opera opens “Carmen,” which will be the sixth opera of its season. The revival will feature a total of 13 performances across two runs, with two decidedly different casts, with one exception. Clémentine Margaine will return to the Met with her signature role, which she has performed around the globe. Per Operabase, Margaine has {…}