Welcome back to another look at the latest CD and DVD releases of the week. This week, audiences will get to hear Jonas Kaufmann’s complete Decca catalog, a new “Tristan und Isolde”, and a Mozart CD. SO SMOOTH, SO SWEET Parma Recording releases a collection of vocal works from Harvard University composer Allen Sapp spanning from his early compositions in {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced the Film Festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz. The company will present operas on 10 Sunday evenings at the Haus am Ring. Here is a look at the program: The festival opens with Puccini’s “La bohème” from 2022 featuring Vittorio Grigolo, Anna Netrebko, Günther Groissböck, and Nina Minasyan. Date: June 29, 2025 Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” from 2022 features {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its annual Summer HD Festival, which will return to Lincoln Center Plaza. The festival will run between August 22 and September 1. THE 2025 MET SUMMER HD FESTIVAL SCHEDULE The festival opens with “Maestro” starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. The Academy Award–nominated biopic tells the story of the legendary American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein {…}
The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. The Constellation Choir & Orchestra under Sir John Eliot Gardiner perform Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2025 Fabio Luisi conducts the Wiener Symphoniker in Franz Schmidt’s “Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.” Soloists incude Maximilian Schmitt, David Steffens, Giulia {…}
(Photo: © Geoffroy Schied) In Francesco Micheli’s new staging of Mascagni and Leoncavallo’s iconic opera, Munich transformed for a night into Palermo. With a unified production for both “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” telling the story of a migrant’s journey from Sicily, the director turned a traditional duo into a memorable night, though his decision to set it in the 1960s {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Riccardo Frizza conducting Cherubini’s “Medea” in a production by Mario Martone. Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role alongside Francesco Meli, Giorgi Manoshvili, Désirée Giove, and Anita Rachvelishvili. Performance Dates: Dec. 3-16, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Maria Agresta, Désirée Giove, Francesco Demuro, and Mimmo Borrelli star in Ennio {…}
The Berlin Philharmonic has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Karina Canellakis takes on the works of Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Robin de Raaff, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Liv Redpath and Netherlands Radio Choir are also featured. Performance Date: August 31, 2025 The Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, and Philippe {…}
Les Grandes Voix | Les Grands Solistes has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with a Gala Joséphine Baker starring Pretty Yende, Neima Naouri, and Luan Pommier, among many others. The concert will take place at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Performance Date: Oct. 4, 2025 Jakub Józef Orliński will headline “#LetsBaRock” at L’Olympia. Performance Date: Oct. 12, 2025 Julien Chauvin leads the {…}
The Tiroler Festspiel Erl Easter “Parsifal” was not, as some might have thought, Jonas Kaufmann’s “swan song,” either as Artistic Director or as Parsifal. Instead, the new production directed by Philipp M. Krenn, was replete with new directions, foci, trials and errors. A single lane swimming pool; a series of videos built around the landscape that housed the theater; a {…}
The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances for the season. The Symphoniker Hamburg, alongside Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg and Knabenchor Hannover, perform Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem. Mandy Fredrich and Isabelle Huppert are the soloists with Lucie Leguay conducting. Performance Date: August 22 & 23, 2025 Manuel Winckhler, Mauro Peter, Kathryn Lewek, Elsa Dreisig, Äneas {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the operas and recitals for the new season. Premieres Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” will get a new production by Dirk Schmeding. The cast will be headed by Franz Xaver Schlecht, Margaret Plummer, Slávka Zámečníková, Ivo Stanchev, Monika Bohinec, Pavol Breslik, Michael Laurenz, Peter Kellner, Matthäus Schmidlechner, Ilia Staple, and Alex Ilvakhin. Tomáš Hanus conducts. A second cast will {…}