This week three new recordings are set to debut. Two are complete operas while one features rarely performed masses. Bruckner & Stravinsky Masses The Rundfunkchor Berlin, led by its chief conductor Gijs Leenaars and accompanied by wind players from the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, presents masses by Bruckner and Stravinsky. Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor and Stravinsky’s Mass share in their unusual {…}
There is a famous painting by Gustave Moreau called “Thracian Girl Carrying the Head of Orpheus on His Lyre” from 1865. The foreground shows exactly what the title describes. The background is harder to make out: some people are gathered on a cliff, one of them playing an aulos. Small tortoises walk near the Thracian woman’s feet, happily sauntering about {…}
(Photo: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera revealed its 2020-21 season on Wednesday afternoon. Among the major announcements were the company’s schedule for its ever-popular Live in HD slate. Here is a look at the list of performances that will be broadcast to audiences around the world. Aida (Oct. 10, 2020): Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s new production {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a number of established as well as rising stars. Here is a detailed look at the upcoming productions: The season opens with Bizet’s “Carmen” with a cast that includes Isabel Leonard and Carolyn Sproule alternating in the role of Carmen, Andrea Caré and Frederick Ballentine alternating as Don José, Anita {…}
On Dec. 15, 2019, The Metropolitan Opera raised the curtain on this season’s run of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Julie Taymor’s family-friendly production continues to be a visual and musical delight that, while abridged, makes for a strong concentration of the work. Under the baton of Lothar Koenigs, Sunday’s cast of artists was comprised of a fine mix of new {…}
Central City Opera will present the Colorado premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera “Billy Budd.” The opera, based on Herman Melville’s novel, “chronicles the idealistic title character’s forced enlistment in the British Navy aboard the Indomitable during the Napoleonic Wars and the moral dilemma that ensues over crimes he commits in self-defense.” Ken Cazan will direct this large production as part {…}
Central City Opera has announced details of its 2019 Festival, which will run from Jul. 6 – Aug. 6, 2019. Performances will be held in the company’s historic 550-seat jewel box theatre. The lineup includes two main stage operas, a double-bill production, and a musical revue. Free pre-performance talks will take place before every main stage opera (except on Jul. 30). {…}
Pittsburgh Opera will close its 80th season with a 1950s Hollywood-style production of Gaetano Donizetti’s comedy “Don Pasquale,” directed by Chuck Hudson. This production will be a “Hollywood retrospective with a focus on The Silent Film Era and the Golden Years of the 1950s,” according to the press release. A plethora of classic films will be referenced throughout the production, {…}
The LA Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring six new productions, two company premieres, and one world pmiere. Here is a look at what to expect. Main Stage Barrie Kosky directs the first production of Puccini’s “La Bohème” in 25 years. Marina Costa-Jackson makes her LA Opera debut in the title role with Saimir Pirgu as Rodolfo. Erica Petroelli, {…}
The Metropolitan Opera’s Summer Recital Series started off on a high note on June 11, 2018. Audience members gathered in Central Park on a cool and cloudless evening that was filled with selections from operas both old and new, to be sung by some of the company’s most promising young talent. Baritone Joshua Hopkins began the evening with “Largo al {…}
Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” is arguably the composer’s best work – an extended love duet with beautiful melodies that capture the essence of Shakespeare’s classic tale, if not its complexity. For years, the Met showcased a production that did draw closer to the greatness of Shakespeare, before replacing it with Bartlett Sher’s current interpretation. Sher’s version gets the job done {…}