The English National Opera has released its schedule for the 2017-18 season which features nine operas between September 2017 and April 2018. The season includes four new productions and six revivals. Verdi’s “Aida” is the first opera of the season kicking things off on Sept. 28 and running all the way through December. Latonia Moore and Morenike Fadayomi alternate the {…}
Patricia Racette is slated to make her directorial stage debut in 2018. The soprano will direct a new production of Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The production will feature sets by Laura Jellinek, costumes by Kaye Voyce, and lighting by Christopher Ackerlind. In a press statement, Patricia Racette said, “My collaborations with James Robinson over {…}
Opera Holland Park has announced its 2018 season. The season will consist of three operatic classics and one new rarity. The season kicks off with Strauss’ “Ariadne Auf Naxos.” The new staging will be a co-production with the Danish National Opera. Performances will be held in Scotland in February and March 2018 before the production moves to OHP in July 2018. {…}
Friday night at the Metropolitan Opera was the last time that audiences would get a chance to see Willy Decker’s production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The powerful vision that first came to see the light of the world in Salzburg over 10 years ago is in and of itself a long goodbye, an intricate look at how a woman says {…}
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 {…}