(Photo credit: Paul Marc Mitchell) The English Concert marks its 50th anniversary with new releases of its legacy project, “Handel for All.” This spring the group will put on a number of special concerts and events in celebration, whilst continuing to build its library of recordings of Händel’s works that are free and accessible. Sopranos Jeanine de Bique and Liv {…}
Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton Normally, ‘heritage’ productions make me nervous. The established stagings summon to mind lumbering Zeffirelli-esque spectacles and unwieldy, moth-eaten costumes. Opera houses resting on their artistic laurels, unwilling take artistic risks. The ingrained conservatism in the opera business that could even prove fatal for the art form. But, Peter Hall’s production of Benjamin {…}
Opera North has announced its 2023-24 season, which will be split into autumn and spring. Henry Waddington, Helen Évora, Isabelle Peters, Egor Zhuravskii, Richard Burkhard, and Tichina Vaughn lead Verdi’s “Falstaff.” Garry Walker and Martin Pickard conduct the production by Jo Davies. Performance Dates: Sept. 28-Nov. 18, 2023 Andri Björn Róbertsson, Anna Dennis, James Laing, Patrick Terry, Callum Thorpe, Xavier Hetherington, and {…}
(Photo: The Photography Shed) Situated in the shade of the Chiltern Hills on the outskirts of London lies The Vache, a country house dating from the 16th century, with extensive grounds covering 86 acres. In 2020, it became the venue for Vache Baroque, a late summer festival dedicated to the performance of baroque music, under the stewardship of Betty Makharinsky {…}
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is set to present its program “Total Immersion: Music for the End of Time” on Jan. 23, 2022 in Barbican Hall. Events for Total Immersion Day will begin that morning at 10:30 a.m. with the showing of the film “The Music of Terezín.” The first concert starts at 1:30 p.m. featuring “The Theresienstadt Orchestra,” followed by {…}
(Credits: Opera Online website / Paul Foster-Williams / Gerard Collett) The Grange Festival has announced its 2021 edition which will feature several opera productions headline by opera’s greatest stars. Here is the breakdown of what’s in store for 2021. Britten’s operatic masterpiece “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” will open the festival. The opera will feature Alexander Chance in the role of {…}
This is it. Next week will bring us into the traditional fall opera season where most opera companies would have initially started to open up their initial productions. In Europe, this trend will continue. In North America, it won’t. So the streaming will continue in unique and diverse formats. This week’s recommendations are no different. As always, don’t forget to {…}
(Credit: Tristram Kenton/Glyndebourne) Glyndebourne has announced the final opera that will be featured as part of its virtual festival. Starting on August 30, and running through Sept. 6, 2020, the organization will present “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” in a production by Sir David McVicar. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a cast starring Marco Jentzsch, Anna Gabler, Topi Lehtipuu, Alastair Miles, Johannes Martin {…}
The Handel + Haydn Society has announced its 2020-21 season, which features a wide range of performances, including 10 company premieres. As always, our focus will be on performances of the operatic and vocal variety. The season kicks off with a performance of Brahms’ “A German Requiem” featuring soprano Amanda Majeski and baritone Ryan McKinny. Conductor Harry Bicket will lead {…}
The Garsington Opera has announced its 2020 season which will feature four staged operas including two repertory staples and two rarities. Here is a look. Verdi and Romani’s “Un giorno di regno” gets a new staging by Christopher Alden with Tobias Ringborg conducting. Richard Burkhard, Henry Waddington, Christine Rice, Siobhan Stagg, Konu Kim, and Grant Doyle star in the production. Performance {…}
The winners of the 23rd South Bank Sky Awards were announced on July 7, 2019 during a ceremony at the Savoy Hotel in London. The Sky Awards are unique in that they “celebrate every genre of the arts, including pop, dance, opera, comedy, and TV,” according to Sky News. “British culture is really thriving right now, and this year’s Awards nominees reflect the {…}