The Easter and Passover holidays seem to have frozen up the opera world this weekend with only a handful of performances featured around the country. It’s a major turnaround from last weekend when a dozen companies were putting on a show. The Metropolitan Opera continues its unstoppable season with three performances. Friday is the final hurrah for Willy Decker’s production {…}
On first glance, you would never find the commonalities between Monserrat Caballé and Lily Pons. The two sopranos, one Spanish and the other French-American, are known for distinctly different repertoire. The former had a wide range that saw her dominate both bel canto and dramatic repertoire while the latter was best known for more delicate roles, particularly in her native {…}
Olga Peretyatko will sing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” tonight at the Metropolitan Opera. The Met announced the news via Twitter. According to the Met press office, Peretyatko would fill in for Carmen Giannattasio who is ill. It will mark Peretyatko’s Met role debut in “La Traviata.” She has performed the role of Violetta at Baden-Baden, St. {…}
Antonietta Stella is one of the great Italian sopranos of all time. Known for her potent and elegant vocal artistry, she was a heralded interpreter of the dramatic repertoire. During a time when such greats as Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi were dominating the opera world, Stella held her own, making several high-profile recordings that remain among favorites, especially in {…}
The Met Opera scored a solid weekend box office for Verdi’s “La Traviata” on Saturday, March 10, 2017. The HD performance came in at a whopping number nine on the weekend, raking in $1.8 million in just one day, the same amount that Best Picture runner-up “La La Land” managed in three days. The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series {…}
New Yorkers will have a chance to meet Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva at the Metropolitan Opera Shop next Wednesday, March 15 at 3 P.M. EST. The soprano’s new album “Handel” recently hit stores and includes music from the composer’s opera’s, “Giulio Cesare in Egitto,” “Alcina,” “Rodelinda,” “Agrippina,” “Theodora” and “Rinaldo.” This is Yoncheva’s third album with Sony Classical. In 2015 {…}
Many opera companies get back in on the action this weekend from all around the country in one of the busier weekends of the season. The Dallas Opera makes its great return on Friday, March 10 with a production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” Hui He stars in the leading role with Gianluca Terranova, Lucas Meachem and Manuela Custer rounding out the {…}
I preface this by stating that this review is for the performance on March 5, 2017. I would also like to recognize that this is just one performance of a seven-performance run. In an ideal situation, I would attend every performance and write a detailed review of the overall work. As it stands, I can only go on my perspective {…}
A new opera starts its life on Saturday while a rarity gets its premiere in a major city and a modern masterwork arrives in our nation’s capital. Yes, opera is finally starting to bloom around the States, with many smaller companies getting in on the act. Arizona Opera is showcasing the world premiere of Bohmler’s “Riders of the Purple Sage.” {…}
This week the Teatro alla Scala will revive the 1990 Liliana Cavani production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The production returns after DmItri Tcherniakov’s 2013 staGing failed to please Scala audiences. This time the Cavani production will be sung by two leading sopranos. First Ailyn Pérez will bring her acclaimed Violetta to the theater. Perez has performed the role around the {…}
Willy Decker’s production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” opens on Friday, marking the final revival of the acclaimed production. Sonya Yoncheva reprises her acclaimed Violetta which critics said, “was a creation full of searching details.” The soprano has been hailed as one of the great Violettas of our time and has sung the role in Munich, Paris, Zurich and London. Michael {…}