The Metropolitan Opera’s At-Home Gala was one of the most hotly anticipated performances of the first half of 2020; one might argue that given its sheer star power, the showcase, which was announced just two weeks ago, was more anticipated than any performance the Met had lined up as part of its regular season. While the Met initially reneged on {…}
The Metropolitan Opera’s At Home Gala is undeniably one of the most hotly anticipated event since the social distancing measures kicked off just a little over one month ago. The event is set to feature close to 40 artists from around the world and recent reports indicate that a great deal of preparation has gone into making this a memorable {…}
This week three full operas are released. One comes from one of the leading tenors of his generation and the other is a debut recording from a renowned composer. Here is a look at what we recommend. Otello Sony Classical releases the full studio recording of Verdi’s masterpiece opera with Jonas Kaufmann singing the title role and Antonio Pappano conducting {…}
Credit: Spinto/Javier del Real/Nicola Allegri/Julian Hargraves/ Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical While the continued quarantine is undoubtedly becoming increasingly challenging for many, there is some relief in knowing that there is opera to check out on a daily basis. What’s more the offerings are becoming increasingly diverse in their range of repertory and content, which allows opera audiences to curate unique {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper is organizing a gala concert “We Play for Austria” on Sunday, April 19, 2020 (8:15 p.m. on ORF III and on Radio Ö1) and will be the start of three live music evenings from the ORF RadioKulturhaus. The concerts were organzied by ORF III in cooperation with u. a. mit dem Haus am Ring, the Volksoper Vienna {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will be aligning the stars of the opera world for a live stream of an At Home Gala on April 25, 2020 at 1 p.m. EDT. The gala can be viewed via the company’s official website with major artists performing from their homes all around the world. The artists include, but are not {…}
The Salzburg Easter Festival is launching a streaming platform in collaboration with Unitel. From April 4 through 16, the dates of the festival, there will be free videos of the opera productions from the era of Christian Thielemann/Staatskapelle Dresden from 2013 to 2017. The program kicks off with a 2017 recording of “Die Walküre,” in a production by Vera Nemirova {…}
Any new “Otello” recording is usually the focus of major conversation. The Verdi and Boito opera is undeniably one of the pinnacle works in the standard repertory, encompassing a vast array of emotional colors with some of the greatest music humankind has ever conjured up. And the world has seen some truly legendary recordings over the past century with some {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl) The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled the fourth week of its Nightly streams schedule. The week kicks is more in keeping with the first and third weeks, which featured a wide range of standard repertory; week two was dedicated to the works of Richard Wagner. Here is the full schedule. Learn more metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/. Monday, April 6 – Verdi’s “Aida” {…}
(Credit:Javier del Real/© Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical/ Bernard Martinez) The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a vast array of programs and stars. Here are opera and vocal performance highlights of the season: Operas Handel’s Messiah is set to be directed by Robert Wilson with Marc Minkowski conducting. The cast includes Elena Tsallagova, Helena Rasker, Richard {…}
The International Opera Awards have been postponed. The event, which was set for May 4, 2020 at London’s Sadler’s Wells, will now take place on Sept. 21, 2020. While the event is canceled, voting is still open for those who wish to contribute their opinions on the Opera Magazine Readers’ Award, which includes such nominees as Ildar Abdrazakov, Cecilia Bartoli, {…}