Met Opera 2018-19 Preview: Enrico Caruso, Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, Plácido Domingo & The Historical Interpreters Of ‘La Fanciulla del West’

This Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, the Metropolitan Opera will bring back Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West,” which incidentally had its world premiere with the company back in 1910. In the context of other Puccini works, this one is seldom performed. For context, “La Bohème,” is the company’s most performed work, with 1300-plus performances in the company’s history. “Tosca,” meanwhile has {…}

Sep 11, 2018

10 Must See Operas For The Fall Season 2018 [International Edition]

The 2018-19 season is about to start with numerous new productions, revivals and world premieres. With a ton of selections to be sure in many of the world’s greatest houses, we whittled it down to the 10 Must-See productions operas that you cannot miss this fall. Medée – Berlin State Opera Sonya Yoncheva takes on her 50th role in Cherubini’s rarely {…}

Sep 11, 2018

CD / DVD Releases – Week of Sept. 9

As the holiday season approaches, a number of new releases will be available this week. Last week we saw the releases of new albums by Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and the world premiere recording of Anton Rubenstein’s “Moses” and this week’s offerings include an homage to Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a new release for Jonas Kaufmann, a new collaboration between two major {…}

Aug 17, 2018

Top 5 Operas to See This Weekend – International (8/17-19)

Festival season continues while some of the bigger opera companies start to open up in time for the fall showcase. This weekend will feature some acclaimed stars as well as a world premiere and a rarely performed work. Here is what we recommend. Aida – Opera Australia, Australia Natalie Aroyan, Riccardo Massi, and Milijana Nikolic star in Verdi’s epic classic. {…}

Aug 16, 2018

Jonas Kaufmann, Michael Fabiano, Joyce El-Khoury Highlights In Opera Australia’s 2019 Season

Opera Australia has unveiled its two seasons for 2019. The company is splitting the season between Melbourne and Sydney, and we will reflect that in the listing of this season announcement. Sydney Season The Sydney Summer season in 2019 kicks off with Puccini’s “La Bohème,” starring Joyce El-Khoury in her Opera Australia debut alongside Ivan Magri, also making his Australian {…}

Jul 20, 2018

Top 5 Operas to See This Weekend – International (7/20-22)

It’s a weekend of Bel Canto, Wagner, Mozart, and Puccini with many of the greatest stars in the world. There are some rarities and some signature pieces that are must see. Tosca – Teatro Municipal de Chile, Chile Melody Moore and Lilit Soghomonyan share the title role in Puccini’s masterpiece with Leonardo Caimi and Artem Golubev alternating Cavaradossi. Elchin Azizov and Alexander Krasnov {…}

Jul 15, 2018

Sony To Release Jonas Kaufmann’s Waldebuhne Concert

Sony Classical has announced the release of Jonas Kaufmann’s Waldebuhne concert. The concert, which was held on July 13, 2018, and later broadcast on ZDF, saw Kaufmann performing a number of Italian songs from his album “Dolce Vita” and also included a special appearance from Anita Rachvelshvili, who performed alongside the tenor. Both performers were accompanied by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. The DVD is {…}

Jul 14, 2018

Opera Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Jonas Kaufmann’s Legendary Career

Jonas Kaufmann is the world’s most famous tenor. The tenor is widely-known as a sure blockbuster hit, selling out virtually any performance that he is to be a part of. His career, despite still being at its height in mid 2018, is already legendary. With his birthday passing just a few days ago, we wanted to continue the celebration with {…}

Jul 13, 2018

Top Five Operas To See This Weekend – International (7/13-15)

Fair warning – you’ll notice that two countries dominate this weekend’s choices and among those, one opera crops up a bit. It’s a weekend with solid offerings all around, but our choices are filled with tremendous star power that was simply too potent to turn away from. Falstaff – Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, UK Verdi’s final masterpiece gets a {…}

Jul 10, 2018

Artist Profile: Jonas Kaufmann, THE Tenor of the 21st Century

Jonas Kaufmann is THE tenor of the 21st century. Born on July 10, 1969, in Munich, he began his vocal training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. During the time of his studies, Kaufmann sang smaller roles at the Bayerische Staatsoper. He graduated in 1994 with a promising career on the horizon. Then crisis struck in 1995 {…}

Jul 2, 2018

Bayerische Staatsoper 2017-18 Review: Parsifal

“Parsifal. Parsifal.” Real? Dreamed? Which? In the opening of the Bayerische Staatsoper Opernfest 2018, we couldn’t tell. The new production by Pierre Audi and Georg Baselitz, which featured Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape, Christian Gerhahar, Nina Stemme, Wolfgang Koch, and conductor Kirill Petrenko, took us to a world far-beyond the drizzly night outside the doors, and watched a human and sacred {…}