(Photo: © Eric Bouloumier) From May 16 to 23, the Opéra de Bordeaux presents Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” directed by Valentina Carrasco. There are a lot of naïveté in this production. The director sets the drama in the final days of the Occupation in France. The back of the stage is used as a screen to show images of the Occupation {…}
The Deutsche Oper am Rhein has announced its 2025-26 season. Premiere Jacquelyn Wagner, John Matthew Myers, Simon Neal, Hans-Peter König, Anna Sophia Theil, Lavinia Dames, Riccardo Romeo, Henry Ross, Luke Stoker, and Žilvinas Miškinis star in Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Vitali Alekseenok and Harry Ogg conduct the concert performances. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-Oct. 24, 2025 Antonino Fogliani conducts Donizetti’s “Prima La Mamma” {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its production of “Der Rosenkavalier.” The company said that Diana Damrau will sing the role of the Marschallin on March 23 and Jacquelyn Wagner on March 26 and 29, 2025 replacing the originally announced Marlis Petersen. Damrau recently made her role debut in the opera at the Berlin State Opera while {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. Happy New Year! For the first week of the year, there are many rarely performed operas on offer and a some world premiere recordings that will be intriguing for opera fans. Grace: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas In celebration of his 80th {…}
(Photo: Clarissa Lapolla) One of the main events at this summer’s Valle D’Itria Festival was a production of Bellini’s oft-performed masterpiece, “Norma.” However, rather than using the traditional Ricordi score, which gained widespread acceptance about 100 years ago, the festival decided to present a new edition by Roger Parker. The argument for the decision was not to rediscover Bellini’s original {…}
This week the Festival Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca is set to open a new production of Bellini’s “Norma” which will be performed in Roger Parker’s Ricordi edition. The version will see two sopranos in the opera, which is close to what Bellini originally intended. Among the artists enlisted for this production is Jacquelyn Wagner. Wagner will make her house {…}
The Festival della Valle d’Itria is set to open its 50th edition on July 17, 2024 with Bellini’s “Norma.” The opera, which will be presented at the Palazzo Ducale di Martina Franca, will see Bellini’s masterpiece in Roger Parker’s Ricordi edition. Fabio Luisi will conduct the new production by Nicola Raab. Jacquelyn Wagner sings the title role with soprano Valentina {…}
The Opéra National de Bordeaux has announced its 2024-25 Season. Opera The season opens with “Le Pavillon aux pivoines” with Guo Xaionan directing. Performance Dates: Oct. 17-19, 2024 “Il Cappello di paglia di Firenze” will be conducted by Salvatore Caputo and directed by Julien Duval. Performance Dates: Nov. 7-9, 2024 Lucie Leguay conducts “Les sentinelles” with Chloé Lechat directing. The {…}
La Monnaie de Munt has announced the 2024-25 season. Opera Wagner’s “Siegfried” will star Magnus Vigilius, Peter Hoare, Gábor Bretz, Scott Hendricks, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Ingela Brimberg, Nora Gubisch, and Liv Redpath. Alain Altinoglu conducts Pierre Audi’s production. Performance Dates: Sept. 11-Oct. 4, 2024 Kris Defoort’s “The Time of Our Singing ” will star Mark S. Doss, Claron Mcfadden, Simon Bailey, Levy {…}
The Staatsoper Hannover has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Philip Glass’s “Satyagraha” will be conducted by Masaru Kumakura and directed by Daniel Kramer. The production will star Shanul Sharma, Meredith Wohlgemuth, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Beatriz Miranda, Lluís Calvet i Pey, Markus Suihkonen, Ruzana Grigorian, Darwin Prakash, and Markus Suihkonen. Performance Dates: Sept. 6-Oct. 31, 2024 Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” will receive a new {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present a new production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” as part of the Holland Festival. The new production will be directed by Ukrainian director Andriy Zholdak, whose visual imagery, replete with symbols, is reminiscent of great film directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman. The production is made in Co-production with the Grand Théâtre {…}