Marina Rebeka, Anita Rachvelishvili & Christian Van Horn Lead Dutch National Opera’s 2020-21 Season

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 {…}

Jun 25, 2019

Jonas Kaufmann & Leo Nucci Lead Lead New CD/DVD Releases – June 24

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 {…}

Apr 16, 2019

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Season Review: Don Giovanni

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 {…}

Apr 5, 2019

Piotr Beczala, Juan Diego Flórez & Thomas Headline Opernhaus Zürich’s 2019-20 Season

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 {…}

Mar 11, 2019

LA Opera 2018-19 Review: La Clemenza di Tito

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 {…}

Jan 27, 2019

Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming & Matthew Aucoin Headline LA Opera’s 2019-20 Season

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, {…}

Nov 16, 2018

Carmela Remigio, Riccardo Massi & Veronica Simeoni Headline Teatro Comunale Di Bologna’s 2019 Season

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 {…}

Nov 1, 2018

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Season Review: Carmen

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 {…}

Oct 29, 2018

Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Preview: Clémentine Margaine Returns to Signature Role

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 {…}

Jul 19, 2017

Breaking: Maria Agresta Pulls Out of Salzburg ‘I Due Foscari,’ Which Stars Plácido Domingo

Maria Agresta has pulled out of two concert performances of Verdi’s “I Due Foscari” as she undergoes an operation. In her stead, audiences will hear Chinese soprano Guanqun Yu. Yu placed second in the 2012 Operalia Competition and has showcased her talents around the world. In 2017-18 she is slated to take on the role of Liù in “Turandot” at {…}

May 1, 2017

Asian Heritage Month 2017: Celebrating the Asian Singers Dominating the Opera World Today

May is Asian Heritage Month in the United States and in honor of cultural diversity, OperaWire will look at honoring the Asian opera stars making major headlines at this very moment. Yonghoon Lee There are few tenors at this moment who can truly dominate the spinto tenor repertoire like Yonghoon Lee does. The South Korean tenor has established himself as {…}