Johannes Martin Kränzle has announced he is stepping back from performances due to acute Leukemia. The German singer announced the news via his website and said, “I will be taking a break from all performances for the next few months in the great confidence that I will soon return to full health. I have acute leukaemia (AML). After a bone {…}
(Photo credit: Monika Rittershaus) Who’s afraid of a double bill? Part two. If Gluck’s Iphigénies required stamina from Aix operagoers, the double bill of Peter Maxwell Davies’s “Eight Songs for a Mad King” and György Kurtág’s “Kafka-Fragments” beseech us to be attentive. It was just an hour and a half of music, and the performances were vivid. But the musical {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get to explore a new album by one of the most acclaimed Mozart sopranos of our time and a new Ring Cycle. There are some rarely performed composers being explored. La Serenissima Composer and vocalist Esbe will release her {…}
(Photo credit: Hilary Scott) Last weekend, Symphony Hall was, on a generous account, less than two-thirds full. If you asked anyone why they were there, nine out of ten people would have said: “to listen to Bártok’s Castle.” The few others would be admirers of Alisa Weilerstein, who played the concert’s first half: Haydn’s c-major cello concerto. Chiaroscuro programing. Bartók’s {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper is set to stream its New Year’s Eve performance of “Die Fledermaus.” The company will showcase the opera on its streaming platform for free. Simone Young will conduct the legendary production by Otto Schenk. The cast includes Camilla Nylund, Wolfgang Bankl, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Hiroshi Amako, Martin Häßler, Norbert Ernst, Regula Mühlemann, Ileana Tonca, and Johannes Silberschneider. {…}
The Berlin Philharmonic has announced its 2023-24 Season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Iván Fischer conducts Michael Nagy in works by Jörg Widmann and Gustav Mahler. Performance Date: August 26, 2023 Alexander Rudin, Alexander Melnikov, Nadezhda Pavlova, and Olga Pashchenko perform works by Sergei Rachmaninov. Performance Date: August 27, 2023 Robin Ticciati conducts Wu Wei Sheng, Karen {…}
The Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, Italy has announced its 2022-23 season. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on the vocal performances. Georg Friedrich Händel “Messiah” will be performed by Sandrine Piau, Sara Mingardo Levy Sekgapane, and Luca Tittoto. Enrico Onofri conducts. Performance Date: Dec. 7, 2022 Timothy Brock leads the New Year’s concert with vocalists {…}
Richard Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 2011. The opera, based around an opera within an opera and featuring a unique blend of comedy and drama, will star Soprano Lise Davidsen, following her performances earlier this season as Eva in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” Conductor Marek Janowski takes to the podium to {…}
(Credit: Monika Rittershaus) The Oper Frankfurt has announced the upcoming run of Franz Lehár’s popular operetta “Die Lustige Witwe.” Headlining the cast are Annette Dasch as the merry widow herself, Hanna Glawari, and Johannes Martin Kränzle as her contentious lover Count Danilo Danilowitsch. In other central roles are Barnaby Rea as Baron Mirko Zeta, and Florina Ilie as his wife {…}
This week audiences will get a chance to experience new releases from two of the biggest stars in opera, Jonas Kaufmann and Lise Davidsen. There will also be releases from up-and-coming star Stephen Lancaster and the choral group The Crossing. Here is a look at what you can look forward to. Fidelio The Dresdner Philharmonie and its Principal conductor Marek {…}
(Credit: Uwe Arens) The Staatstheater Wiesbaden in Germany has announced its 2021-22 season featuring new productions, revivals, and jung oper. Premieres Alexander Joel and Christoph Stiller conduct a new production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” by Philipp M. Krenn. The work stars Aluda Todua, Aleksei Isaev, Cristiana Oliveira, Vesselina Kasarova, Jordanka Milkova, and Aaron Cawley. Performance Dates: Sept. 19, 2021-July 15, 2022 {…}