Anja Harteros, Catherine Foster & Andreas Schager lead Staatstheater Wiesbaden Mai Festspiele 2020

Staatstheater Wiesbaden has just announced its May Festival program, featuring seven operas and number of vocal works. Operas Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde” will spotlight Catherine Foster, Lance Ryan, Andreas Schager, René Pape, Tobias Kehrer, Thomas de Vries, Margarete Joswig, Andreas Karasiak, Julian Habermann, and Erik Biegel. Ryan and Schager will alternate in the title role of Tristan, while Pape and Kehrer will {…}

Feb 10, 2020

Sondra Radvanovsky, J’Nai Bridges, Michael Fabiano Headline Canadian Opera Company’s 2020-21 Season

The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2020-21 season, which will feature six operas and some special events. The season opens with François Girard’s famed production of Wagner’s “Parsifal.” Christopher Ventris and Vikor Antipenko will alternate the title role with Johan Reuter as Amfortas and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner will take on Kundry. Robert Pomakov will interpret Klingsor while Mika Kares {…}

Jan 23, 2020

Natalya Romaniw, Toby Spence & Christine Rice To Feature In Garsington Opera’s 2020 Season

The Garsington Opera has announced its 2020 season which will feature four staged operas including two repertory staples and two rarities. Here is a look. Verdi and Romani’s “Un giorno di regno” gets a new staging by Christopher Alden with Tobias Ringborg conducting. Richard Burkhard, Henry Waddington, Christine Rice, Siobhan Stagg, Konu Kim, and Grant Doyle star in the production. Performance {…}

Nov 23, 2019

Anja Harteros Cancels Performance Of ‘Lohengrin’

Anja Harteros has canceled tomorrow’s performance at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The company announced that Harteros will not sing the role of Elsa in “Lohengrin” on Nov. 24 and will be replaced by Johanni van Oostrum. Van Oostrum has performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper since 1996 and has performed at the Dutch National Opera, Theater an der Wien, Komische Oper Berlin, {…}

Nov 15, 2019

Olga Peretyatko & María José Siri Lead Top 8 Operas To See This Weekend Internationally – (11/15-17)

(Credit: Theater an der Wien/Opera de Monte Carlo) This weekend is filled with rarities and curiosities. And those burning for repertory staples will also be obliged as some of the great opera stars of today are taking on iconic operas. Here is a look at what we reccommend. La Vestale – Theater an der Wien, Vienna Elza Van Den Heever {…}

Oct 4, 2019

Joyce DiDonato, René Pape & Asmik Grigorian Headline Top 7 To See This Weekend Internationally (10/4-6)

It is the first weekend of October, which means that it is one filled with opening nights, new productions, contemporary works, classics, and baroque works. Let’s have a go. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Lawrence Zazzo, Erin Morley, Théo Touvet, Peter Kellner, Szilvia Vörös, Josh Lovell, Rafael Fingerlos, Rachel Frenkel, Valentina, Naforniţa, Peter Rose, Benjamin Hulett, Wolfgang {…}

Jul 31, 2019

Festival D’Opéra de Québec 2019 Review: Der Fliegende Holländer

(Credit: Louise Leblanc) Premiering in 1843 prior to Richard Wagner’s 30th birthday, “Der Fliegende Holländer” was the successful outcome of a frustrating period in the life of the young composer. At the bitter end of his tenure as musical director of a theater in Riga, Wagner left for Paris with his wife. After an illegal crossing into Prussia followed by {…}

May 11, 2019

Theater an der Wien 2018-19 Season Review: Der Freischütz

In non-German speaking countries, Carl Maria von Weber’s 1821 opera “Der Freischütz” is a bit of a seltener Vogel. In the past five years, apart from Matthias Hartmann’s memorable production at La Scala in 2017 and Mark Elder’s concert version at the Royal Festival Hall the year before, Anglophone audiences remain largely unexposed to this groundbreaking romantic German opera. The {…}

Feb 21, 2019

Francois Girard’s ‘Der Fliegende Holländer’ Production Highlights The Festival d’Opéra de Québec 2019

The Festival d’Opéra de Québec has announced its slate for 2019. The big story revolved around the company’s new production of Richard Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Holländer,” in a co-production with The Metropolitan Opera and the Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam. The festival assembled an international cast that includes Canadian baritone Gregory Dahl in the title role, German bass Andreas Bauer Kanabas as {…}

Dec 7, 2018

Oper Graz 2018-19 Review: Salome

Johanni van Oostrum’s sensational Salome saves a fatally
flawed production from Florentine Klepper.

May 17, 2017

Theater Bonn Review 2016-17 – Peter Grimes: José Cura Shifts The Blame On Main Character, Concocting An Engrossing Production

The starting point for any production of Peter Grimes lies in the interpretation of the opera’s central character, namely Peter Grimes himself: to what extent should the audience be encouraged to view the anti-hero as an outsider, a victim of the underlying, but all-pervading intolerance and hypocrisy which saturates the Borough, rather than simply as a sadistic sociopath? Clearly, any {…}

Johanni Van Oostrum