Händel Festspiele Halle 2025 Review: La Santissima Annunziata

(Photo: Thomas Ziegler) Among the lesser-known gems presented at this year’s Halle Handel Festival, Alessandro Scarlatti’s “La Santissima Annunziata” stood out for its spiritual focus and musical refinement. Composed around 1700/1703 and revived in 1708 under the patronage of Prince Ruspoli, this early Roman oratorio—with a libretto attributed to Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni—offers a deeply meditative take on the Annunciation. Unlike {…}

Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Announces 2025-26 Season Featuring Chiara Isotton, Benedetta Torre, Siobhan Stagg & Antonio Poli

The Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano has announced its 2025-26 season. Here are the vocal performances. Chiara Isotton, Szilvia Vörös, Antonio Poli, and Manuel Fuentes Perform Verdi’s Requiem. Emmanuel Tjeknavorian Conducts. Performance Dates: Nov. 14-16, 2025 Handel’s Messiah will be performed by Giulia Semenzato, Lorrie Garcia, Jorge Navarro Colorado, and Fabrizio Beggi. Fabio Biondi Conducts. Performance Dates: Dec. 12 & 14, 2025 Massimo Fiocchi {…}

Mariana Flores & Jakub Józef Orliński Headline La Cité Bleue’s 2025-26 Season

La Cité Bleue announces its 2025-26 season. For the purpose of this article only classical voice performances are included. Max Emanuel Cenčić takes on the title role in Cavalli’s “Pompeo Magno.” The concert version also features Logan Lopez Gonzalez, Valerio Contaldo, Mariana Flores, Alois Mülhbacher, Kacper Szelążek, Victor Sicard, Pierre-Antoine Chaumien, Lucía Martín Cartón, Valer Săbăduș, Jorge Navarro Colorado, Marcel {…}

Ravenna 2024 Review: ‘Hail! Bright Cecilia’ & ‘Dido and Aeneas’

(Photo: Zani-Casadio) Following on from the previous day’s performance of Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria,” Ravenna’s Teatro Alighieri continued with a production of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” coupled with “Hail, Bright Cecelia,” presented by the same cast under the musical direction of Ottavio Dantone. The fact that Pier Luigi Pizzi, who had been responsible for the lackluster staging {…}