(Photo credits: Borggreve, Fowler, & Reason) The Lied Festival Victoria de los Ángeles (LIFE Victoria) has announced its 2025 lineup. This article only features vocal works. Soprano Elsa Dreisig and pianist Romain Louveau perform Schumann’s “Dichterliebe,” along with works by Ravel, Pesson, Ströhl, and Fauré. Performance Date: February 11, 2025 A double bill of Poulenc’s “La voix humaine” and “La {…}
The Bliss International Song Series announces its 2024-25 season, curated by Musician in Residence and Bye-Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Joseph Middleton. All performance take place in the Auditorium at Pembroke College, and start at 7.30 p.m. Tenor Ian Bostridge CBE and Middleton present an all-Schubert program to open the season. Performance Date: November 7, 2024 Baritone Huw Montague Rendall {…}
(Credit: Clive Barda) As marriages go, this wasn’t one made in heaven. But despite an uneven performance, it ultimately won the audience over and did have moments of striking musical beauty. As the opening night for the 2024-25 season at Covent Garden, the revival of David McVicar’s “Le nozze di Figaro” did predictably well, and filled the house on a {…}
(Photo credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez) Eight years ago, Katie Mitchell’s staging of “Pelléas et Mélisande” was opera-lovers’ favorite summer topic. Echoes of its greatness could be heard in the wintery Brazilian July, and in the fall, when I was in Scotland, people still commented how great—or heterodox—it was. Its return to Aix’s stage reminds us of its scenic beauty and proves {…}
A truly packed house, a cast of operatic luminaries and a program of works chosen and compiled by Maestro Pappano himself; a Gala, fit for a KING, surely? Which is just as well because His Royal Highness King Charles III was in the audience as a truly surprise guest of honor, courtesy of a massive covert security operation that even {…}
Sevilla’s Teatro de la Maestranza has announced its 2024-25 season. Lirica Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczała celebrate Puccini with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla and Keri-Lynn Wilson. Performance Date: Oct. 30, 2024 Gianluca Marcianò and Jacopo Brusa conduct Puccini’s “Turandot” with Oksana Dyka, Maria Katzarava, Maxim Kuzmin-Karavaev, Alejandro Baliñas, Jorge de León, Héctor Sandoval, Miren Urbieta-Vega, and Laura Brasó. Performance {…}
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced its 2025 season. New Productions The season will see the company’s first-ever production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” directed by Jetske Mijnssen. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a cast that includes Daniel Johansson as Parsifal and mezzo-soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Kundry. Performance Dates: May 17 – June 24, 2025 Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Josep Pons conducts Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” with Alexei Botnarciuc, Daniel Kirch, Sara Jakubiak, Ángeles Blancas, and Pavel Černoch. Àlex Ollé conducts. Performance Date: Sept. 25-Oct. 7, 2024 Maria Agresta and Saioa Hernández star in Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” with Artur Ruciński, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Brian {…}
Baritone Huw Montague Rendall has signed to the record label Erato. In a statement, the baritone said he was “deeply honoured to be becoming a part of the Warner/Erato family. Their vast collection of recordings has been a tremendous spring of inspiration for me over the years. I am thrilled to collaborate with this exceptional team for my debut album {…}
The Baden-Baden Festival has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the vocal performances. Mark Elder conducts Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal,” Prelude and Good Friday Music, and “Tristan und Isolde,” Act two. The concert will include soloists Jonas Kaufmann, Camilla Nylund, Sasha Cooke, Christof Fischesser, and Todd Boyce. Performance Date: August 25, 2024 Le Grand Gare Festival The Singfest with members of the {…}
The OPER! Awards announced its 2024 winners on Jan. 29, 2024. The awards were held at the Dutch National Opera, which won the Opera House of the Year accolade. The evening saw Waltraud Meier, who recently retired from the opera stage, receive the Lifetime Honorary Award. The Female Singer of the Year went to Ermonela Jaho, while Michael Spyres won {…}