Mezzo-soprano Katia Ledoux is speaking up against AI in opera. In a statement to social media, she said, “One of the things that disappoints me most these days when I scroll through the opera side of social media is the rampant use of artificial intelligence (AI) art, which is growing at an alarming rate. I see my colleagues (even some {…}
(Credit: © Wolf-Dieter Grabner) Mezzo-soprano Katia Ledoux is speaking out about being booed at the Volksoper Wien following a performance of “Die Fledermaus.” The mezzo took to social media and said, “Today I was booed on stage for the first time in my life. Well… technically I have been booed many times in the summers when I sang in the Kinderoper {…}
(Photo: Dutch National Opera/Monika Rittershaus) (*** Trigger warning based on explicit content & suicide ***) “Le Lacrime di Eros” takes the audience back to the Italian city states of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a period still basking in the afterglow of the High Renaissance, in which the artworks of Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo hung in the {…}
The Opernhaus Zürich presents a new production of a French Baroque masterpiece: “Platée,” a ballet-bouffon composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau in 1745. The premiere took place in Versailles as part of the festivities for the wedding of Louis XV with María Teresa Rafaela of Spain. The libretto, by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d’Orville, draws inspiration from Greek mythology. It narrates the tale {…}
The production history of Jacques Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde” is convoluted to say the least. It premiered twice, once in Baden-Baden and once at the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1869. In between both versions, it was reworked extensively; pastiches from the unpublished “La Baguette” were removed and Offenbach wrote a whole new act in a bid to align the narrative of {…}
French mezzo-soprano Katia Ledoux made history on Feb. 1 during a presentation of Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” at the Volskoper Wien. During the performance, Ledoux sang both the mezzo and the tenor role after Daniel Kluge pulled out, feeling sick. In a lengthy social media post, the mezzo said, “I’m sitting in the office next to our casting director’s {…}
Opera Rara is set to present Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde” on Sept. 16, 2022 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The opera, which will feature Paul Daniel conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra, will star Anne-Catherine Gillet, Virginie Verrez, Christophe Gay, Josh Lovell, Katia Ledoux, Antoinette Dennefeld, Loïc Félix, and Christophe Mortagne. This marks the UK premiere of the {…}
Opernahus Zurich has announced it will reopen to the public on May 1 for a limited audience of 50 people. Performance Date: May 1, 2021 The theater will reopen with “Walking Mad” featuring Ballett Zürich, Junior Ballett, Ada Pesch, and Naoki Kitaya. Performance Dates: May 6 & 9, 2021 The Philharmonia Winds will present a concert featuring music by Dvořák {…}
(Credits: Gisela Schenker / Gerard Collett / © wildundleise.de) Opernhaus Zürich has announced that it will reopen on September 20, 2020, with the fully staged production of Modest Mussorgsky’s gigantic opera “Boris Godunov.” The cast for the opera includes Michael Volle, Lina Dambrauskaité, Irène Friedli, John Daszak, Konstantin Shushakov, Brindley Sherratt, Edgaras Montvidas, Oksana Volkova, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Alexei Botnarciuc, {…}