I love a creatively and thoughtfully produced opera as much as anyone — but I find I am more and more drawn to the oratorio format, where the focus is squarely on the musical telling of the story. Stripped of production elements like sets, lighting effects, costumes, and staging, the experience is distilled down to the words and the music. {…}
The San Francisco Symphony has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Donald Runnicles conducts Alban Berg’s Seven Early Songs and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. Irene Roberts is a soloist. Performance Dates: Sept. 26-28, 2025 Jane Glover conducts Händel’s “Messiah” with Heidi Stober, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Josh Lovell, and Will Liverman. Performance Dates: Dec. 5 {…}
The Dresdner Philharmonie has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Gunter Berger conducts the Children’s Choir with Malte Arkona moderating. Performance Date: Sept. 28, 2025 Hans-Christoph Rademann conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Christina Landshamer, Marie Henriette Reinhold, Patrick Grahl, and Matthias Winckhler. Performance Date: Oct. 3, 2025 The music of Astor Piazzolla, {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.” The cast includes Reginald Smith, Jr. as the Pirate King, Thomas Glass as Major-General Stanley, David Portillo as Frederic, Vanessa Becerra as Mabel, and Katharine Goeldner as Ruth. David Charles Abell will conduct Sean Curran’s production. Performance Dates: Oct. 18-Nov. 1, {…}
Berlin-based American soprano Heidi Stober has joined IMG Artists for General Management. Stober will be represented by Executive Vice President and Global Head of Vocal Matthew A. Horner, and Senior Vice President and Head of UK Vocal Sam Snook, along with Senior Assistant Artist Manager Aleks Reupert and Assistant Artist Manager Joseph Lenehan. Stober has performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, {…}
The English National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Puccini’s “La Bohème” opens the season with a cast that includes Nadine Benjamin, Joshua Blue, Charles Rice, Vuvu Mpofu, Patrick Alexander Keefe, and Dingle Yandell. Clelia Cafiero conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 26-Oct. 19, 2024 Sinead Campbell-Wallace and Christine Rice star in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica.” Corinna Niemeyer conducts the production by Annilese Miskimmon. Performance Date: {…}
(Photo: Semperoper/Ludwig Olah) The almost 800-year-old conflict on the Iberian Peninsular between the Spanish and the Moorish invaders gave rise to many stories of heroism, love and bloodshed. While some were based on fact, others were simply romantic embellishments or complete fabrications. One such tale of questionable authenticity concerns Rahel, the Jewish mistress of the King of Castile, Alfonso VIII. {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will experience albums from some of the top divas in the opera world as well as Christmas albums that will be great for the holiday season. Essence Marina Rebeka releases a new album on Prima Classic. The soprano sings a selection {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Puccini’s “La Bohème” for 18 performances in the fall and winter. The opera, which is set to run between Oct. 10 and Jan. 13, will first star Federica Lombardi in the lead role alongside Matthew Polenzani, Olga Kulchynska, and Adam Plachetka. The cast also includes Sean Michael Plumb in his Met role debut as {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) Boston Baroque opens its season with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 alongside his “Coriolan” Overture and “Elegiac Song.” The performances will take place on Oct. 13, 14, and 15 at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, GBH’s Calderwood Studio in Brighton, and NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston. The Oct. 15 performance will also be live streamed on the global streaming {…}
(Credit: Lawrence Morton) San Francisco Opera has announced the program for its 100th Anniversary Concert at the War Memorial Opera House on Friday, June 16. Music Director Eun Sun Kim, former Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles, and former Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers will conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus along with a host of star soloists in {…}