This week DVDs from 2020 festivals will be released while a choral album will showcase new works from some of Latvia’s renowned composers. Let’s take a look! Aeternum SKANi will release Aeternum, a 3-year project from the State Choir “Latvija” and its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Māris Sirmais, to mark Latvia’s 2018 centenary celebrations. The album features 77 of {…}
(Credit: Bayerische Staatsoper official website) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced the cancellation of its performance of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” on April 3, and a presentations of Verdi’s “La Traviata” on April 9, 11 & 15, 2021. Per an official statement on the company’s website, the opera house was forced to cancel the performances due to the worsened epidemiological situation {…}
Audiences who crave seeing opera’s biggest stars on the small screen will have a lot to enjoy. From a Jonas Kaufmann triumph at the Met to a new role for Marlis Petersen and a video showcase for Kristine Opolais, this week’s selection should certainly fulfill a lot of operatic wishes. But there are also two world premieres – one in {…}
(Credits: Yiorgos Mavropoulos/Jiyang Chen) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced that it will livestream the premiere of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” on March 21, 2021. Soprano Marlis Petersen will debut in the role of Die Feldmarschallin alongside Christof Fischesser who will perform the role of Baron Ochs and Samantha Hankey who will sing the role of Octavian. The performance will also {…}
Opera has always been known as the instrument of psychic and social health. But last year it also became a risk of physical health. Just when we needed culture the most, 2020 became a year of pandemic and a year without opera. Therefore both artists and opera institutions are confronting a crisis of their own. The arts generated a greater {…}
(Credits: © Dario Acosta / Charles Castronovo official website / Deutsche Oper am Rhein official website / Kristian Schuller/Decca) The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2021 edition, featuring 8 operas and numerous concert performances. Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” will feature Mika Kares as Il Commendatore, Nadezhda Pavlova as Donna Anna, Michael Spyres in the role of Don Ottavio, Federica Lombardi as {…}
(Credits: Gregor Hohenberg/Sony Classical /© David Jerusalem / © DR / Fazil Berisha / http://arsis-artists.com/en/iain-paterson/) L’Opéra de Paris has announced full casts and dates for the concert performances of Wagner “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” The Ring cycle was initially planned as a series of four fully staged operas but had to be reorganized into concert performances due to the ongoing {…}
(Credits: Gregor Hohenberg/Sony / Chris Singer / Rebecca Fay / Artists Management Zürich official website) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced the full slate for its 2020-21 free streaming season. Here is the look. Walter Braunfels’ “Die Vögel” will feature Wolfgang Koch, Günter Papendell, Caroline Wettergreen, Emily Pogorelc, Yajie Zhang, Eliza Boom, Bálint Szabó, Theodore Platt, George Vîrban, Charles Workman, and {…}
(Credits: Gisela Schenker / Gerard Collett / © wildundleise.de) Opernhaus Zürich has announced that it will reopen on September 20, 2020, with the fully staged production of Modest Mussorgsky’s gigantic opera “Boris Godunov.” The cast for the opera includes Michael Volle, Lina Dambrauskaité, Irène Friedli, John Daszak, Konstantin Shushakov, Brindley Sherratt, Edgaras Montvidas, Oksana Volkova, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Alexei Botnarciuc, {…}
Before German baritone, composer, and instrumentalist Johannes Martin Kränzle joined the ranks of singers, he studied violin and directed music theater in Hamburg. The baritone studied voice with Martin Gründler and began his operatic career at such venues as Theater Dortmund, Staatsoper Hannover, and the ensemble of Oper Frankfurt. Since then, Kränzle has sung at the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House; {…}
(Credit: Monika Ritterhaus) Who would have thought that an opera could be staged in just a few weeks? Probably the fastest production in the world was the minimalist, but extremely lively production of Mozart’s opera “Così Fan Tutte” staged at this summer’s Salzburg Festival. The tension of times – pandemic, anniversary, unexpected project, opportunity to return to work, new roles, {…}