Stéphane Degout, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Véronique Gens & Danielle de Niese Lead London Philharmonic’s 2025-26 Season

The London Philharmonic has announced its 2025-26 season. Edward Gardner conducts Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Jennifer France. The program also includes Hans Abrahamsen’s “Let me tell you.” Performance Date: Oct. 3, 2025 Karina Canellakis conducts Stravinsky and L. Boulanger with soloists Véronique Gens, Andrew Staples, and Jean-Sébastien Bou. Performance Date: Oct. 22, 2025 Mark Elder teams up with Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha {…}

Mar 27, 2025

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 2024-25 Review: Werther

(Photo : Vincent PONTET) From March 21 to April 6, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées presents a new production of Jules Massenet’s “Werther,” staged by Christof Loy and directed by Silvia Aurea De Stefano. It’s probably no exaggeration to consider it one of the best of the first quarter of 2025, at least. In fact, it’s been a long time {…}

Feb 4, 2024

Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg 2024-25 Review: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

From January 20 to February 9, the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, in coproduction with the Théâtre National de l’Opera Comique, the Vienna Volksopera and the Opéra de Reims, where the production will also be offered, presents Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” Well, Offenbch’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” is an understatement. Dutch playwright Peter Te Nuyl has rewritten the libretto {…}

Nov 29, 2023

CD Review: Philippe Boesmans’ ‘On purge bébé!’

“This could be my last opera,” predicted Philippe Boesmans in February of last year, just two months before his death at 85. “I’ve done tragedies…so I decided that I have to finish with total lightness, total insouciance.” Virtually unknown in the U.S., the Belgian composer garnered European success with exquisite settings of serious drama: Schnitzler’s “Reigen“ (1993), Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale” {…}

Aug 2, 2022

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2022 Review: Il Viaggio, Dante

(Photo: Monika Rittershaus) To mark the 700th anniversary of Dante Aligheri’s death in September 1321, the Aix-en-Provence festival staged the world premier of French composer Pascal Dusapin’s opera “Il Viaggio, Dante,” based upon the poet’s iconic narrative poem “The Divine Comedy.” To say that this is an ambitious undertaking is an understatement, especially as the work has been compressed into {…}

Jun 27, 2022

Michael Spyres, Elza Van Den Heever & Vannina Santoni Lead Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie’s 2022-23 Season

The Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie has announced its 2022-23 season. Opera Ainārs Rubiķis conducts Verdi’s “Aida” in a production by Annabel Arden. The opera stars Sunyoung Seo, Ketevan Kemoklidze, Amadi Lagha, Leon Kim, and Jacques Greg-Belobo. Performance Dates: Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2022 Noëlle Gény leads “Bach et le sacré.” Performance Date: Oct. 16, 2022 Noëlle Gény conducts “Musiques sacrées” Performance Date: Dec. 11, 2022 {…}

Nov 24, 2021

Michael Spyres, Golda Schultz, Sabine Devieilhe & Emily D’Angelo Lead Festival D’Aix-En-Provence’s 2022 Season

The Festival D’Aix-En-Provence has announced its 2022 slate featuring a varied repertoire and international stars. The festival will begin on July 4 and is set to run through July 23, 2022. Here is a look at the upcoming season: Mahler’s “Resurrection” will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen in a production by Romeo Castellucci. Golda Schultz and Marianne Crebassa star. Performance {…}

Oct 29, 2021

Sabine Devieilhe, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Véronique Gens, Ian Bostridge & Stéphane Degout Headline Opéra Comique’s 2022 Season

(Credit: © Julia Lamoureux) Opéra Comique in Paris has announced its 2022 season, featuring seven operas. Here is the full slate. Ambroise Thomas’ “Hamlet” opens the season with Sabine Devieilhe as Ophélie and Stéphane Degout in the title role. The cast also includes Laurent Alvaro, Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo, Pierre Derhet, Jérôme Varnier, Yu Shao, Geoffroy Buffière, and Nicolas Legoux. Louis Langrée {…}

Jun 18, 2021

Renée Fleming, Diana Damrau, Angela Gheorghiu, Benjamin Bernheim, Erin Morley, John Osborn Lead Opéra National de Bordeaux’s 2021-22 Season

Opéra National de Bordeaux has announced its rich 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article we will focus only on vocal performances. Here is the full slate. Opera A semi-staged version of Meyerbeer‘s “Robert Le Diable” opens the season. The opera stars Erin Morley, Nicolas Courjal, Amina Edris, Nicolas Darmanin, Joel Allison, Paco Garcia, and John Osborn in the {…}

Jun 8, 2021

Marina Rebeka, Ermonela Jaho, Golda Schultz, Rachel Willis-Sørensen & Ludovic Tézier Headline Radio France’s 2021-22 Season

Radio France has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article we will focus only on the vocal works. Here is a look. Operas Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortilèges” spotlights Jodie Devos, Clara Guillon, Adèle Charvet, Marie Lenormand, Élodie Méchain, Antoine Normand, Régis Mengus, and Paul Gay. Mikko Franck conducts. Performance date: Oct. 1, 2021, Philharmonie de Paris {…}

May 25, 2021

Patricia Petibon, Carmen Giannattasio, Wallis Giunta & Enea Scala Headline Opéra de Lyon’s 2021-22 Season

(Credits: Bernard Martinez / Cory Weaver / Kirsten Nijhof / In Art Management official website) Opéra de Lyon has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas A concert version of Massenet‘s “Manon” will showcase Saimir Pirgu as Le Chevalier des Grieux, Artur Ruciński as Lescaut, and Patricia Petibon in the title role. The cast will be rounded {…}