(Credit: ©2026 Tristram Kenton) The death of Vincenzo Bellini at just 33 years of age was unequivocally a tragic loss to the world of opera. The libretto for his final work…not so much. After a 35 year absence, Bellini’s “I Puritani” has made a return to Covent Garden. The opera is rarely performed in any house, and the reason is {…}
On June 29, the Royal Opera House will present a new production of “I Puritani,” featuring Lisette Oropesa in her signature role and led by one of the great Bel Canto conductors working today, Riccardo Frizza. The performance will mark Frizza’s debut on the podium of the Royal Opera House, and it comes as he celebrates 25 years since his {…}
(Photo: Steven Harris) Lisette Oropesa is a widely acclaimed lyric coloratura soprano who is one of the most in-demand artists on the world’s stages. Her expansive repertoire includes Gluck, Händel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Bellini and Puccini, among others. She has recorded a continuously expanding discography of studio albums, live recitals, and opera films. Operawire caught up {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced a cast change for its Jan. 10 performance of “I Puritani.” The company said that Artur Ruciński has withdrawn from the performance due to a cold and will be replaced by Ricardo José Rivera. The Polish baritone also took to social media and said, “My dear friends, I have very sad news. Unfortunately, due to {…}
(Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera) Less is more! That was what Sandro Sequi did well in his traditional 1976 production of “I Puritani” at the Metropolitan Opera. Originally staged for Joan Sutherland, the production was a vehicle for the great divas of the Bel Canto repertoire. And while it was admittedly a product of its time, the last three {…}
(Photo: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025–26 Live in HD season will continue with Bellini’s “I Puritani” on Jan. 10, 2026. The company will showcase the first new production of this opera in nearly 50 years and will feature soprano Lisette Oropesa as Elvira, opposite tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Arturo. They will be joined by baritone Artur {…}
(Photo: Andrea Butti / OperaLombardia) Although “I Puritani” is an Italian opera through and through, it was conceived in Paris, at the height of the grand opéra tradition. Bellini studied Meyerbeer and Halévy in great detail, noting in his personal papers certain orchestral “effects” he wished to emulate and others he intended to avoid. As a result, the score, especially {…}
(Credit: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present a new production of Bellini’s “I Puritani.” This will make the first new staging of the opera in 50 years with Charles Edwards directing the new production. Edwards known for his stage and set designs and previously created scenery for four Met productions by David McVicar. Lisette {…}
(Credit: Sébastien Mathé) Vincenzo Bellini’s last opera, “I Puritani,” premiered in 1835 at the Theatre d’Italie in Paris, in the same year he untimely died at 35. The story is set in England in the 17th century, during the civil war between Cromwell’s republicans (the Puritans of the title) and the Stuarts’ royalists. While the music sets this work as {…}
The Tiroler Festspiele Erl has announced a cast change for its Jan. 4, 2025 performance of “I Puritani.” The company said, “the second concert performance of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera ‘I Puritani’ will also feature a different singer than planned in the role of Elvira – and one of the most sought-after sopranos has once again been able to step in. {…}
With Bellini’s “I Puritani” one steps into the heartland of Italian bel canto: The ensembles are mesmerizingly beautiful, the vocal lines infinitely refined, and the orchestration – with its mood painting role – proves a proto-dramatic foundation to the unfolding of the Romantic intrigue, prone to inspiring the operatic vocabulary of subsequent generations, and of Verdi in particular. Needless to {…}