Asmik Grigorian, Kate Lindsey, Jonathan Tetelman, Benjamin Bernheim, Elīna Garanča, Lisette Oropesa & Juan Diego Flórez Lead Salzburg Festival’s 2026 Season

The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2026 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Franck Ollu conducts Pascal Dusapin and Rita de Letteriis’s “Passion” starring Sarah Aristidou, Georg Nigl, and Schola Heidelberg. Performance Date: July 23, 2026 Asmik Grigorian stars as Bizet’s “Carmen” alongside Jonathan Tetelman, Kristina Mkhitaryan, and Davide Luciano. Teodor Currentzis conducts the production by Gabriela {…}

Jul 19, 2025

‘Don Giovanni’ Is One of the Greatest Works Ever Written. Why Is It So Hard for Directors to Get Right?

(Photo: © Monika Rittershaus) “Don Giovanni” is an opera of seductions and escapes, moral wreckage and divine retribution, a shimmering mosaic of comedy, tragedy, farce, and existential dread. Yet “the mother of all operas” is also a uniquely treacherous work—at once alluring and intractable, irresistibly open yet elusive. Music’s sublimity rarely fails to connect with audiences, even in a less-than-stellar {…}

Jul 18, 2025

Erin Morley, Leah Hawkins, Barbara Hannigan, Karim Sulayman, Konstantin Krimmel Lead Park Avenue Armory & WQXR Recital Series Broadcasts

The Park Avenue Armory will broadcast its recital series this August in collaboration with WQXR. The first concert to be broadcast is “C’es ainsi que tu es,” a recital featuring Leah Hawkins and pianist Kevin Miller as they take on works by Jasmine Barnes, Ashbourne, Poulenc, Jorell Williams, Lili Boulanger, Joel Thompson, and Eden Abhez. Broadcast Date: August 9, 2025 Then {…}

Jun 29, 2025

Konstantin Krimmel, Julian Prégardien, Andrè Schuen, Nikola Hillebrand, Christiane Karg Headline Schubertiade 2026

The lineup for Schubertiade 2026 has been announced. This article only features opera and classical vocal performances. Baritone Konstantin Krimmel and pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz open the season with an all Schubert program. Performance Date: April 29, 2026 Mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert, pianist Joseph Middleton, and Vocalis are up next. Performance Date: April 30, 2026 Baritone Konstantin Krimmel Baritone is joined by {…}

Jun 16, 2025

Erin Morley, Lawrence Brownlee, Konstantin Krimmel, Julia Bullock, & Freddie Ballentine Among Performers in 92NY’s Tisch 2025-26 Music Season

92NY announces its 2025-26 Tisch Music Season. This article only features classical vocal performances “Gabriel Kahane & Friends” features works off of Kahane’s new album. Performance Date: October 31, 2025 The Curtis New Music Ensemble explores 20th- and 21st-century repertoire in “We the Artists.” Composers featured include Clarice Assad, Carlos Simon, and Joan Tower, among others. Performance Date: November 21, {…}

May 5, 2025

Benjamin Appl, Helen Charlston, Roderick Williams, & Lotte Betts-Dean Among Performers in Oxford International Song Festival 2025

The Oxford International Song Festival has announced its line up for 2025. This article only features classical vocal concerts. Baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist Sholto Kynoch open the festival with a concert highlighting the works of Franz Schubert. Performance Date: October 10, 2025 Baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist Sholto Kynoch perform a small selection of songs in “Song Sofa.” This {…}

Jan 22, 2025

Konstantin Krimmel to Present Recital at Park Avenue Armory

Baritone Konstantin Krimmel is set to present a recital at Park Avenue Armory. Krimmel makes his North American recital debut with pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz in a program of lieder inspired by their recent album “Mythos.” The album includes music by Schubert and Loewe and a song cycle by Vaughan Williams. The baritone received his first musical training with the St. Georgs {…}

Nov 19, 2024

Erin Morley, Pene Pati & Konstantin Krimmel Lead Park Avenue Armory’s 2025 Season

The Park Avenue Armory has announced its 2025 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Konstantin Krimmel and Ammiel Bushakevitz lead a program of music by Schubert, Loewe, and Vaughan Williams. Performance Dates: Feb. 22 & 24, 2025 Erin Morley and Gerald Martin Moore lead a program of music by Schumann, Berg, Saint-Saëns, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Ricky Ian Gordon. {…}

Aug 6, 2024

Salzburg Festival 2024 Review: Capriccio

(Photo credit: SF/Marco Borrelli) The ending of “Capriccio” has often been praised; less has been said out loud about how never ending the rest of the opera is. Performed in a concert version, with little to no theatrical movement, it lasts for almost an eternity. Perhaps I am being too harsh. Although “Capriccio” is far from a magnum opus, it is {…}

Aug 2, 2024

CD Review: Konstantin Krimmel’s ‘Mythos’

If it were not for Franz Schubert, the incommensurably prolific Carl Loewe would be the undisputed champion of 19th century art songs. Older, by just two months, Loewe epitomizes Biedermeier aesthetics with their charming naivety and quasi-lackadaisical trust in God. They materialize in apolitical narratives, and the cultivation of the private sphere – from tales of old to homely {…}

Jul 12, 2024

Konstantin Krimmel & Nicolai Ghiaurov Lead New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get a chance to listen to world premiere recordings, a rarely performed work and a legendary recording of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Ochre Multiple-GRAMMY-winning ensemble The Crossing offers a new album born of cultural resonance, with new works by three {…}