With the year coming to an end, we bring you the last releases of 2022. Audiences will get a chance to hear a monodrama, a Christmas album, a solo album and rarities. Eternal Heaven Long-time musical partners Lea Desandre and Iestyn Davies present Thomas Dunford’s complete Handel program recorded with Ensemble Jupiter. Featuring Dunford on the lute, the new album {…}
(Credit: © Cordula Treml) “An Anatomy of Melancholy” is a new 75-minute show from countertenor Iestyn Davies and lutenist Thomas Dunford, designed and directed by Netia Jones. Its title comes from Robert Burton’s famous seventeenth-century treatise on the various varieties of despair and mania that make up what now wears the guise of depression and anxiety. The musical thread connecting {…}
The Château de Versailles Spectacles Royal Opera House has unveiled its 2022-23 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be solely on vocal performances. The vocal portion of the season kicks off with a performance of Berlioz’s “Roméo et Juliette” with Virginie Verrez, Andrew Staples, and Edwin Crossley-Mercer. Daniel Harding conducts the Choeur de Radio France and {…}
The Oxford Lieder Festival has announced its 21st season. The season opens with “Culture, Counterculture, and Conviviality,” a two-part event that features a look at the salon culture, followed by a more specific look at that music world through Pauline Viardot’s own involvement. The event features speaker Natasha Loges and such artists as Charlotte Bowden, Alexandria Moon, Zahid Siddiqui, Johnathan {…}
The Berliner Philharmoniker has announced its 2022-23 season featuring some of the greatest singers in the world. Here is a look at the vocal highlights of the season. Georg Nigl, Dirk Rothbrust and Vilde Frang are the soloists in the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Vladimir Jurowski’s concert. The program includes music by Iannis Xenakis, Béla Bartók, and Gustav Mahler. Performance Date: {…}
London’s Barbican Centre has announced its 2022-23 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on vocal showcases. Laurence Cummings leads the Academy of Ancient Music in a performance of Haydn’s “The Seasons” with Sophie Bevan, Benjamin Hulett, and Jonathan Lemalu as the soloists. Performance Date: Oct. 4, 2022 Baritone James Newby and pianist Joseph Middleton perform {…}
Wigmore Hall has announced details for its Autumn 2022 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Regula Mühlemann soprano and La Folia Barockorchester open the season with Cleopatra featuring music by Hasse, Vivaldi, Legrenzi, Graun, and Händel. Performance Date: Sept. 8, 2022 Elizabeth Llewellyn and Simon Lepper perform a program of music by Coleridge-Taylor, G Mahler and Strauss. {…}
The Edinburgh International Festival has announced 2022 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus solely on vocal and operatic performances. Opera Sir Don Runnicles will lead a performance of “Fidelio” starring Clay Hilley, Jennifer Davis, Markus Brück, Sir Willard White, Gideon Poppe, and Kim-Lillian Sterbel. Performance Dates: August 10, 2022 Natalya Romaniw will lead “Rusalka” in a {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) This is a review of the March 11th, 2022 performance, the Opening night of this production’s 3rd revival since 2004. “Rodelinda: Regina De’Longobardi” is old, nearly 300-years old, which is advanced in age even by operatic standards. That being said, following the rise of the early music movement of the 20th century, scholars and performers alike have {…}
The Händel Festival Halle has announced its 2022 slate, marking the company’s 100th anniversary. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on vocal and operatic performances. The festival kicks off with a production of “Orlando” starring Xavier Sabata, Franziska Krötenheerdt, Yulia Sokolik, Vanessa Waldhart, and KiHyun Park. Christian Curnym conducts a production by Walter Sutcliffe. Performance Dates: {…}
St. Martin-in-the-Fields has announced its Spring 2022 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on soley vocal performances. Soprano Natalya Romaniw and pianist Iain Burnside will initiate the new ENO in the Fields program, a collaboration with the English National Opera. Performance Date: Feb. 12, 2022 I Fagiolini will take on baroque music for multiple choirs {…}