Opera Australia is currently presenting “Madama Butterfly” on the Sydney Harbour with Karah Son. The Korean soprano is one of today’s most sought-after Cio-Cio Sans which OperaWire has called a “tour-de-force whose journey we raptly followed.” She has performed the title role in Tampere, Leipzig, Warsaw, Berlin (Deutsche Oper), Goteborg, and Turin and is set to perform it in San {…}
Credit: Keith Saunders Opera Australia’s annual Handa Opera on the Harbor, named after Opera Australia’s Patron-in-Chief, Japanese businessman Haruhisa Handa, is undoubtedly one of Sydney’s most anticipated yearly social events. At the premiere of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” helmed by Spanish director Àlex Ollé on March 24th, a black-tie audience including three former Australian prime ministers indicated that the show had an {…}
The Detroit Opera has announced its 2023-24 season featuring a wide array of repertory. Matthew Ozawa directs a new production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” with Kensho Watanabe conducting. Karah Son sings the title role alongside Eric Taylor, Kristen Choi, and Nmon Ford Performance Dates: Oct. 7-15, 2023 The company is set to present the site-specific operatic experience composer John Cage’s “Europeras {…}
The Cincinnati Opera has announced its 2023 season featuring four productions. The season opens with Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” featuring a cast that includes Raven McMillon, Santiago Ballerini, Anthony Clark Evans, Griffen Hogan Tracy, Terrence Chin-Loy, and Sahel Salam. Renato Balsadonna conducts the production by Jose Maria Condemi. Performance Dates: June 22 & 24, 2023 The World Stage Premiere of {…}
Opera Australia has announced its 2023 season which will mark the 13th and final season of Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini’s tenure. Sydney Summer Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” will be conducted by Guillaume Tourniaire in Sir David McVicar’s production. The opera will star Ukranian baritone Andrei Kymach in the titular role, Israeli bass Yuri Kissin as Leporello, and Sophie Salvesani as Donna {…}
The Opéra National de Bordeaux has announced its 2022-23 season featuring opera, ballet, concert, and great voices. Opera Paul Daniel conducts Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” with Yoshi Oïda directing. Karah Son, Virginie Verrez, Riccardo Massi, and André Heyboer. Performance Dates: Nov. 10-21, 2022 Roberto González-Monjas conducts Mozart’s Requiem in a production by Stéphane Braunschweig. The cast includes Hélène Carpentier, Fleur Barron, {…}
(Photo credit: Prudence Upton) Whose version of “Othello” is better – Shakespeare’s or Verdi’s? You could have a good argument with someone over this. In Verdi’s opera, Iago is more overtly a villain (he says so in Act two’s “Credo in Dio crudel”) and there are potentially more shades to Otello, whose long speeches in Shakespeare’s “Othello” can too easily {…}
(Photo credit: Prudence Upton) Storywise, Puccini’s “Turandot” presents an interesting challenge. Based on a fairytale dramatized by 18th century Italian writer, Carlo Gozzi, it doesn’t quite fit into Puccini’s more natural style. And even casual audience members might find themselves asking, “If Turandot is so horrible nearly all the way through, how can we believe her sudden change of heart at {…}
San Francisco Opera has announced its 2022-23 season, which represents the 100th anniversary of the organization. To that effect, the company will aim to honor its history as just the third American opera company to ever reach the centennial milestone. The season will kick off with an “Opera Ball – The Centennial Celebration” which will feature such performers as Nadine {…}
Opera Australia has announced its Winter Season featuring four productions. The season opens with Verdi’s “Aida“ directed by Dave Livermore and conducted by Lorenzo Passerini and Tahu Matheson. The production stars Leah Crocetto in the title role; Elena Gabouri as Amneris; Stefano La Colla and Najmiddin Mavlyanov sharing the role of Radamès; and Warwick Fyfe and Michael Honeyman as Amonasro. Performance {…}
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has revealed a new autumn season at the Paladozza, the basketball stadium in Bologna, Italy. For this article, we will focus on the operatic performances. Opera The autumn season opens with a semi-staged production of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” with Maria Rita Combattelli, Beatriz de Sousa Chaveiro, Klodjan Kacani, César Arrieta, Alberto Bonifazio, Jacobo Ochoa Piedrahita, {…}
