Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Sabine Devieilhe, Piotr Beczała, Nicole Car, Saioa Hernández, Freddie De Tommaso, Thomas Hampson, Pretty Yende & Renée Fleming Lead Opéra National de Paris 2025-26 Season

The Opéra National de Paris has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Puccini’s “La Bohème,” featuring Nicole Car, Yaritza Véliz, Charles Castronovo, Joshua Guerrero, Andrea Carroll, Étienne Dupuis, Xiaomeng Zhang, and Alexandros Stavrakakis. Domingo Hindoyan conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 12-Oct. 14, 2025 Cecilia Molinari leads Handel’s “Ariodante” alongside Luca Tittoto, Jacquelyn Stucker, Sabine Devieilhe, Rupert Charlesworth, Christophe Dumaux, {…}

Apr 1, 2025

Jakub Józef Orliński, Matthias Goerne, Lawrence Brownlee, Benjamin Appl, Barbara Hannigan Véronique Gens, Hugh Cutting & Nicholas Phan Lead Wigmore Hall’s Fall 2025-26 Season

Wigmore Hall has announced its 2025-26 fall season. Here is a look at the vocal performances, and click here for a preview of the spring and summer season. Matthias Goerne and Maria João Pires opens the season. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2025 Anna Dennis, Hugh Cutting, Nicholas Mulroy, Marcus Farnsworth, Jessica Cale, Sarah Anne Champion, Hiroshi Amako, and Chris Webb {…}

Mar 6, 2025

Opernhaus Zürich 2024-25 Review: Agrippina

(Foto: Monika Rittershaus / Courtesy of Opernhaus Zürich) George Frideric Händel composed “Agrippina” during his Italian tour, a work that marked a pivotal moment in his career. It solidified his grasp of Italian opera, represented his first genuine operatic triumph, and remains the earliest of his operas for which the complete score has survived intact. The libretto, written by Cardinal {…}

Jan 30, 2025

Lea Desandre & Anthony Roth Costanzo Headline Opening Performance of Frick Collection’s Spring Music Festival

The Frick Collection is set to present a star-studded concert to kick off its Spring Music Festival. The concert, set for April 26, 2025, will be headlined by the Jupiter Ensemble, Lea Desandre, and Anthony Roth Costanzo. Desandre and the Jupiter Ensemble will lend their talents to music by Händel, followed by Bach, Vivaldi, Monteverdi, and Händel. To cap off {…}

Dec 29, 2024

Opéra-Comique Paris 2024-25 Review: Les Fêtes d’Hébé

(Photo: Vincent Pontet) If I were to rank the weakest opera libretti of all time, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Antoine-César Gautier de Montdorge’s “Les Fêtes d’Hébé ou Les Talents Lyriques” would certainly be in the top tier. Nevertheless, the opera-ballet possesses an allegorical charm that transcends the quality of its text—and it is a charm that is not solely musical. After {…}

Nov 29, 2024

Rolando Villazon, Ying Fang, Fatma Said, Benjamin Appl & Lea Desandre Lead Dresdner Musikfestspiele’s 2025 Season

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele has announced the 2025 season with the theme of “LOVE.” For this article, we will focus on the vocal performances. Fabio Luisi NHK Symphony Orchestra is set to join perform Haydn and Mahler with Ying Fang and Jan Vogler. Performance Date: May 18, 2025 The works by Arvo Pärt will be performed by Kadri Toomoja and the {…}

Nov 8, 2024

Cecilia Bartoli, Matthias Goerne, Piotr Beczala & Philippe Jaroussky Lead Salzburg Whitsun Festival’s 2025 Season

The Salzburg Whitsun Festival has announced its 2025 season. Opera “Hotel Metamorphosis,” a pastiche of Vivadi’s music, will be conducted by Gianluca Capuano and directed by Barrie Kosky. The production will star Cecilia Bartoli, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Lea Desandre, Philippe Jaroussky, and Angela Winkler. Performance Dates: June 6-8, 2025 Nadine Sierra, Piotr Beczala, and Luca Salsi star in Verdi’s “La Traviata” {…}

Oct 29, 2024

Pretty Yende & Lea Desandre Headline Acte 4’s 2024-25 Season

Acte 4 has announced its 2024-25 season. This article only features vocal works. Sopranos Emőke Baráth and Lauranne Oliva, countertenor Tim Mead, tenor Robin Tritschler, and baritone Benjamin Appl are soloists in Handel’s “Messiah.” They are joined by The Spiritual Concert orchestra and choir and directed by Hervé Niquet. Performance Dates: December 11, 2024 Mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre sings Sapho, Iphise and Eglé {…}

Aug 1, 2024

Salzburg Festival 2024 Review: Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford, & Ensemble Jupiter

(Photo credit: SF/Marco Borrelli) Thomas Dunford and Lea Desandre are pop. Young, synergetic, and talented, they exude a pop quality even when they are not singing the Beatles. It is a fresh thing that makes them desirable and somehow accessible. But how many people can play the lute like Thomas and sing like Lea? In their Salzburg recital, their pop-ness {…}

Jul 19, 2024

Asmik Grigorian, Jonathan Tetelman, Sabine Devieilhe, & Leandro Shira Patchornik 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 to relive two acclaimed performances from the 2023 Salzburg Festival as well as two world premiere recordings. Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth C Major Entertainment releases Salzburg’s production of Verdi’s masterpiece which was recorded in August 2023. The production by {…}

Jul 17, 2024

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2024 Review: Lea Desandre + Thomas Dunford

(Photo credit: Julien Benhamou) Let’s talk about chemistry. Cher and Sonny had it; so did Joey and Chandler. And, nowadays, the duo with the most chemistry in classical music is French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and French lutenist Thomas Dunford (D+D for the fans). The concert was extremely solar, gleeful, and gay, reflecting their bright partnership. Their youthful joyfulness even brightened {…}

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