(Photo Credit: Gianmarco Bresadola) “Regietheater” remains a hot topic in the opera world. The main reason for the controversy is because a lot of those new approaches generally need to contort the original material into something completely new to find purpose. Interpretation gives way to transformation, rewriting, and often, reinvention. I stand a bit in the middle on this. On {…}
It has been 23 years since Daniel Barenboim offered three performances of Wagner’s comedy at Teatro Real. It was the first Laurent Pelly Wagner production, and therefore the expectations were high. And the result did not disappoint an enthusiastic audience which gave strong ovations at the curtain call. Pelly is a master in “comedy” and he recognizes that he doesn’t {…}
(Credit: Fabrizio Sansoni) OperaVision has revealed its upcoming slate for late April and May 2024. First up is Garsington Opera’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” from June 18, 2023. The opera stars Natalya Romaniw, Young Woo Kim, Jennifer France, and Polly Leech. Streaming Dates: April 26 – Oct. 26, 2025 Next up is Lviv National Opera’s “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” from Mach 7, {…}
The Teatro alla Scala has announced a cast change for its production of Verdi’s “Don Carlo.” The company said, “We inform you that Ain Anger (The Grand Inquisitor), indisposed during the rehearsals, has to withdraw from the production of ‘Don Carlo’ due to his prolonged convalescence.” It added, “La Scala thanks Jongmin Park, already involved in the role of the {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real) Teatro Real opened its 2023-24 season with Cherubini’s masterpiece “Medea.” The opera had a great success and was very popular in Europe during the XIX century, where it was usually performed in German or Italian and with a newly written recitative instead of the original French dialogues between arias and scenes. “Medea” was rarely performed during {…}
(Credit: Speranza Scappucci official website) The Teatro alla Scala has announced that conductor Evelino Pidò has withdrawn from the production of Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” due to a health emergency. As a result, Speranza Scappucci, the Music Director of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, will take over in the pit. Scappucci will lead a cast that includes Marianne {…}
(Credit: Staatsoper Unter den Linden official website) The Teatro alla Scala has announced that bass Ildar Abdrazakov will not be appearing in the role of Banquo in the final performance of Verdi’s “Macbeth” scheduled for Dec. 29, 2021. No reason has been given for the cast change. As a result, South Korean bass Jongmin Park will take over the role. {…}
(Credits: Michael Cooper / Dario Acosta / Sonya Yoncheva official website / © Gregor Hohenberg / Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment) The Teatro alla Scala in Milan has announced its 2021-22 season, featuring some of the greatest performers in the world. Here is the full slate. Operas Anna Netrebko and Luca Salsi open the season in Verdi‘s “Macbeth” in {…}
(Credits: © Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment / © Tatiana Vlasova / © Dario Acosta) The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2021-22 season featuring a variety of concerts from some of the world’s greatest performers. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the vocal {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced its streaming slate for the upcoming week. It all kicks off with Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” starring Chen Reiss, Roman Trekel, Hyuna Ko, and Joseph Dennis, among others. Tomás Netopil conducts. Streaming Date: Jan. 12, 2021 Christian Franz, Linda Watson, Eric Halfvarson, and Jochen Schmeckenbecher headline a 2016 performance of “Götterdämmerung.” Adam Fischer {…}
(Credit: L’Opéra de Rouen Normandie Facebook Page) L’Opéra de Rouen in France has announced that it has canceled the remaining two performances of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” on Sep. 30 & Oct. 3, 2020, after another case of COVID-19 was detected. “We must make the observation that after five serene weeks the sanitary conditions necessary to guarantee a secure framework for the {…}