(Photo: Marek Olbrzymek) During a walk in the forests outside Brno, Rudolf Těsnohlidek and his friends came across an abandoned baby that was left to freeze under a tree. The unmarried mother was eventually found and claimed she was hoping that the child would be discovered and given a better life. Unfortunately, such incidents were not uncommon in the early {…}
The National Forum of Music announces its 2024-25 and tenth anniversary season. For the purposes of this article only vocal works are included. Andrzej Kosendiak conducts the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic and soloists Anett Fritsch, Anna Mikołajczyk-Niewiedział, Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak, and Paweł Horodyski in Mozart’s “Mass in C minor,” KV 427. They are joined by the NFM Choir under the direction {…}
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced its 2025 season. New Productions The season will see the company’s first-ever production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” directed by Jetske Mijnssen. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a cast that includes Daniel Johansson as Parsifal and mezzo-soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Kundry. Performance Dates: May 17 – June 24, 2025 Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” {…}
(Image Source: Domingo Hindoyan Official Website) The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has announced its 2022-23 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on classical vocal performances. The Opening Concert will feature soprano Katerina Kneziková in a performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Domingo Hindoyan will also conduct Janácek’s Sinfonietta. Performance Dates: Sept. 17, 2022 Soprano Katie Coventry and {…}
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has announced it 2022-23 season featuring world class soloists. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. The season opens with Strauss’ “Elektra” with Ausrine Stundyte, Elisabeth Strid, Petra Lang, Neal Cooper, and Kostas Smoriginas. Antonio Pappano conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 18-22, 2022 Antonio Pappano conducts Clay Hilley in a program {…}
(Credit: © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical/Michael Cooper/Dario Acosta) Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia has announced its 2021-22 season featuring concert performances with some of the greatest stars in the world. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal performances only. Concerts Jakub Hrůša conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Wiebke Lehmkuhl. Performance {…}
It is an under-appreciated coincidence that Janacek’s searing opera of bourgeois repressiveness and psychological collapse appears in the same year as fellow Moravian Sigmund Freud’s “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” and his study of “Mass Psychology” (they were, in fact, born mere miles apart). “Kat’a Kabanova” is a psychic drama of shame and self-hatred. As in Freud’s work, Janacek creates a {…}
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a revised 2021 season that will run from May 20 to August 29. “Kát’a Kabanová” will open the festival in a new production by Damiano Michieletto. The cast will include Kateřina Knĕžíková, Aigul Akhmetshina, Katarina Dalayman, Nicky Spence, Alexander Vassiliev, David Butt Philip, and Thomas Atkins. Performance Dates: May 29-June 19, 2021 Giancarlo Andretta conducts Mariame Clément’s production of Rossini’s {…}
(Credit: Paul Schirnhofer/DG/Chris Singer) The Musikverein Wien has announced its 2020-21 Season featuring a number of great stars. For this article of the Austrian concert hall, vocal performances have been highlighted. Michael Havlicek joins the Philharmonia Schrammeln for “Schlawi(e)nerisches.” Performance Date: Oct. 6, 2020 Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. Oratorium with soloists Christiane Karg, Benjamin Bruns, and Florian Boesch. Performance {…}
The Czech Philharmonic will be hosting a Mozart Benefit Gala on Saturday, May 23, 2020 to raise money for the People in Need Foundation, specifically for those with economic challenges resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and for the education of children. The concert will be led by Principal Guest conductor Tomáš Netopil with concert master Jiří Vodička and 39 members {…}
(Credit: Andreas Praefcke) The Prague’s State Opera historical building is back in business. After three years of reconstruction, the famed venue opened its door with a gala concert on Jan. 5, 2020 staged by Alice Nellis. The concert, which feature a number of Czech politicians in attendance, showcased a wide range of music from such composers as Wagner, Mozart, Janacek, {…}