Joyce DiDonato, Asmik Grigorian, Piotr Beczala, Sonya Yoncheva, Lisette Oropesa Headline Metropolitan Opera’s 2025-26 Season

The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. New Productions The season opens on a Sunday with Mason Bates and Gene Scheer’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” in its Met Opera premiere. Bartlett Sher directs and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast starring Lauren Snouffer, Sun-Ly Pierce, Miles Mykkanen, Patrick Carfizzi, Craig Colclough, and Andrzej Filoncyzk. Performance Dates: Sept. {…}

May 5, 2024

San Francisco Opera to Present ‘Beyond Innocence’ Events

San Francisco Opera has announced that it will present “Beyond Innocence,” an initiative to provide additional context for its upcoming production of Kaija Sariaaho’s “Innocence.” The initiative includes a daylong symposium “BEYOND INNOCENCE: The Power of Community and the Arts & the Prevention of Gun Violence,” presented by San Francisco Opera, Live Free USA, and Lumahai Productions. There will be {…}

Apr 16, 2024

San Francisco Opera to Present American Premiere of ‘Innocence’

The San Francisco Opera is set to present the American premiere of composer Kaija Saariaho’s final opera, “Innocence.” The opera, which will be performed, at the War Memorial Opera House from June 1 to 21, 2024, had its world premiere at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2021. “Innocence” is a 105-minute opera in five acts without intermission that is performed in {…}

Apr 14, 2024

Sir. Antonio Pappano Wins Olivier Award

The Olivier Awards have announced the 2024 winners. For this article, we will focus on the opera categories only. The TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production went to “Innocence” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House. The opera, which had its world premiere in 2021, was Kaija Saariaho‘s final opera. The award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera {…}

Mar 12, 2024

Royal Opera House Leads Opera Olivier Award Nominations

The Olivier Awards have announced their 2024 nominations. Here are the opera category nominees: TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production “Blue” by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum “Innocence” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House “Picture A Day Like This” by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre “The Rhinegold” {…}

Aug 15, 2023

Dutch National Opera to Present Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Innocence’

(Photo credit: Marta Syrko) The Dutch National Opera is set to present Kaija Saariaho’s “Innocence” for six performances this fall. The production, which opens on Oct. 10, 2023 and runs through the 22nd, will be directed by Simon Stone and conducted by Elena Schwarz. The opera is set to star Jenny Carlstedt, Lenneke Ruiten, Thomas Oliemans, Lilian Farahani, Markus Nykanen, {…}

Jun 5, 2023

Metropolitan Opera to Present Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Innocence’ in 2025-26

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will present Kaija Saariaho’s “Innocence” during the 2025-26 season. In a tribute statement to the composer, who died on June 2, the company said, “The Met mourns the loss of eminent Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who recently passed away at age 70. Saariaho made Met history in 2016 with the company premiere of {…}

Aug 1, 2021

Q & A: Vilma Jää on Performing Markéta in Saariaho’s ‘Innocence’ & her Dream of Reviving Finnish Folk Music Traditions

(Photo: Mary Em) Kaija Saariaho’s new opera “Innocence” premiered at this summer’s Festival d’Aix-En-Provence to widespread acclaim. “Innocence” is about a school shooting in an International school. In the role of Markéta, one of the shooter’s victims was the young Finnish singer Vilma Jää, who found herself receiving enthusiastic applause for her extraordinary performances. Jää is a marvelous singer with {…}

Jul 17, 2021

Festival d’Aix-En-Provence 2021 Review: Innocence

(Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez) Postponed from last year, owing to COVID restrictions, Kaija Saariaho’s new opera “Innocence” finally received its world premiere at this year’s Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and it did not disappoint. The libretto, written by Sofi Oksanen, interweaves two narratives which relate to a school shooting. One focuses on the students and their teacher who were present at the time {…}

Apr 26, 2021

FEDORA Announces Launch of the Nominee Phase for 2021 Prizes

FEDORA has announced the launch of the nominee phase for its 2021 prizes. Jury nominees in the opera category belong to Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen’s “Innocence” in a co-production by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Dutch National Opera, Finnish National Opera & Ballet, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and San Francisco Opera; Jamie Man and Peter Stamm’s “Zelle, wenn es dunkel wird” {…}

Mar 6, 2021

Opera Quiz: Which Kaija Saariaho Opera Is It?

Kaija Saariaho is one of the most renowned classical music composers of today. The Helsinki native has had her music performed all over the world at such major organizations as Lincoln Center, the Salzburg Festival, the Théâtre de Châtelet, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York Philharmonic among many others. She is a Grammy Award winner and was crowned as {…}

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