(Photo: Cory Weaver) French soprano Julie Fuchs is the current toast of her operatic genre, as much as the character she portrays in the San Francisco Opera production of George Frideric Handel’s “Partenope.” Last weekend’s audience cheered, screamed, applauded, and thrilled to Fuchs’s electrifying dispatch of the daunting role—her final aria even stopped the show in its tracks! With glamorous costuming {…}
San Francisco Opera’s 2024 Summer Season will continue with Händel’s “Partenope.” The opera will be showcased in Christopher Alden’s 2014 production and Christopher Moulds, a baroque specialist, will conduct. The opera will star soprano Julie Fuchs in her American debut in the title role of Partenope, Carlo Vistoli in his U.S. debut, Nicholas Tamagna, Daniela Mack, Alek Shrader, and Hadleigh Adams. {…}
The Seattle Symphony has announced its lineup of holiday concerts at Benaroya Hall. This year marks the first time since 2019 that the symphony will perform its full suite of programs in person. Among the events is the tradition of Handel’s “Messiah” featuring soprano Nicole Cabell, contralto Sara Couden, tenor Steven Soph, bass Damien Geter, and the Seattle Symphony Chorale {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver) “I am fire and air; my other elements I give to baser life.” So sings Cleopatra in John Adams’ “Antony and Cleopatra.” The baser life about which Cleopatra sings is everything that is not she and everything that was not Antony. So Adams tells us in the latest from his roster of remarkable operas. San Francisco Opera {…}
Opera Parallèle is set to collaborate with SFJAZZ for Philip Glass’ opera “Beauty and the Beast.” The opera is based on the epic 1946 romantic fantasy film by French poet and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau. The production, which is set to be performed on July 14, 15, 16, and 17 at SFJAZZ, will fuse opera and film. In a statement, Opera {…}
The Seattle Symphony has announced its 2022-23 season featuring several international performers. Here is a look at the vocal performance. Enrique Lopez-Yañez conducts José Sibaja and Mónica Ábrego in a program of Latin American music. Performance Dates: Oct. 14 & 16, 2022 Tan Dun conducts his piece “Buddha Passion” with Sen Guo, Huiling Zhu, Kang Wang, Yupeng Wang, Batubagen, and Chen Yining. {…}
Steven LaBrie has withdrawn from the Flordia Grand Opera’s production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The baritone was forced to cancel the upcoming production as he will be joining Il Divo on tour over the month of February. As a result, the role of Stanley Kowalski will be performed by Hadleigh Adams. In a statement the FGO’s CEO and general {…}
Those yearning for a lot of big name opera gems will certainly be satisfied with this week’s offerings which include a bit of a deviation from our usual format – we included three productions from the same company. But there are still several other unique offerings from around the world. We hope you have a fulfilling week of operatic experiences. {…}
(Credit: Lars Borges) The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season. Here is a look at the vocal highlights of the season. The first major vocal highlight of the season will be Audra McDonald performing music from “Porgy and Bess,” “Carousel,” and other notable Broadway tuned alongside conductor Andy Einhorn. Performance Date: Oct. 20, 2020 Soprano Nuria Rial will take {…}
(Credit: Houston Symphony Orchestra) The Houston Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season featuring three vocal performances. Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts the rarely performed work Schmidt’s “The Book with Seven Seals.” The cast is set to include Christian Elsner, Nicholas Brownlee, Meghan Kasanders, Kelley O’Connor, Maximilian Schmitt and Jan Martiník. The Houston Symphony Chorus is led by Betsy Cook Weber. Performance {…}
The Houston Symphony has announced its 2019-20 season with a number of great artists and conductors featured in a variety of repertoire. For this season announcement, we will focus on the vocal performances and operatic repertoire. Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Andrés Orozco-Estrada team up for a concert, which will include a suite from “Porgy and Bess” by Gershwin, as well as the {…}