Palm Beach Opera will launch its 2020-21 season with the company’s first-ever outdoor festival, featuring live performances of “La Bohème,” “Pagliacci,” and “The Magic Flute.” The festival will run from February 19-27, 2021, and will be held at the iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre of the South Florida Fairgrounds. The productions will be semi-staged, and in order to maximize social distancing, the {…}
(Credits: © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Jiyang Chen) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced that it has cancelled the whole run of Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmélites” that was on the schedule for Nov. 14 – Nov. 22, 2020 due to the current COVID-19 situation. The opera was set to star Ermonela Jaho, Adrianne Pieczonka, and Doris Soffel. Instead, {…}
(Credit: Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that tenor Juan Diego Flórez will sing the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” on Sept. 21, 2020. The tenor will replace Liparit Avetisyan, who is ill, in the final performance of the run. Flórez is the latest artist in a series of cast changes at the {…}
(Photo Credit: Lizelle de Wit) The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact for many opera singers and companies all over the world. Not only were performances canceled left and right, but there were concerns over when and how singers might be able to get back on the operatic stage. As the months passed by, we saw online performances, socially distanced {…}
(Credit: Elena Cherkashyna / Merri Cyr) Soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Xabier Anduaga will appear together in a concert on Sep. 9, 2020. The performance, entitled “A Celebration of Opera” will also feature pianist David Aronson. Concert, which will not include a live audience, will be organized by the Gibraltar Philharmonic Society. Sierra will perform “Ah, je veux vivre” from {…}
(Image Source: Covent Garden Luna Cinema Illustration_LR_RGB) The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Luna Cinemas have partnered to offer London’s free open air cinema on Covent Garden’s Piazza. The program will include screenings of three works from the Royal Opera House. First in the line is Puccini’s opera “La bohème” on September 11, 2020, followed by Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan {…}
(Credit: Rahvusooper Estonia) Estonian conductor Jüri Alperten has died at the age of 63, after a long illness. Alperten graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory in 1979 and was the Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera from 2002 to 2004; he was also the Chief Conductor of the Pärnu City Orchestra since 1998. Alperten had worked with several prominent orchestras, {…}
Puccini’s “La Bohème” might just be the most popular opera ever written. We know its tunes. We know its love story. We know its ability to navigate the totality of life’s highs and lows in sweeping and crushing manner. So for this week’s quiz, we will test that knowledge more intimately. How well do you know it’s history? It’s libretto {…}
As Renée Fleming, “America’s Diva,” introduced the third to last piece in a program that ranged from Handel to Cantaloube to Harold Arlen, the beloved singer sighed deeply. It was a testament to the magic and beauty she had spun singing one of the standout numbers of her concert, “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.” She sang the {…}
The Royal Opera House, in partnership with The Luna Drive In Cinema, will bring the opera and ballet to British audiences at drive-in theaters set up at iconic venues, a press release dated July 10 stated. The Opera House and Ballet will screen “La bohème,” “La traviata,” “Swan Lake,” and “Alices Adventures in Wonderland” at Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle, Allianz {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features “Selah and the {…}