The Teatro Grattacielo will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a gala performance featuring three unique works by Italian composers. The performance, set for Sept. 28, 2019 at the Gerald Lynch Theater, will feature the first act from Leoncavallo’s “La Bohème,” Act two from Catalani’s “Loreley,” and the third act from Respighi’s “Sleeping Beauty.” The performance will be conducted by {…}
The International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI) and the Institut Canadien D’Art Vocal (ICAV) have announced their slates for New York and Montréal. First up will be IVAI’s New York showcase, which takes place between June 12 and 23, 2019. The program, which is run by Music Director Paul Nadler and Artistic Director Joan Dornemann will feature a series of masterclasses {…}
Ruggero Leoncavallo, born on April 23, 1857, is renowned today because of the success of his very first opera. The composer showed great abilities as a pianist from a young age and spent some time in Egypt as a pianist and teacher. However, he quickly departed to Paris when revolts broke out. In France’s capital city, Leoncavallo secured work as {…}
Dec. 22, 2018, saw the second concert of Talents of the World’s International Music Festival. Following their tribute concert to the legendary Maria Callas, Saturday’s performance was given in celebration of legendary tenor Enrico Caruso’s 145th anniversary. The evening’s program was comprised of not only operatic favorites, but a number of Neapolitan Songs as well. What followed was a highly-charged {…}
San Francisco Opera’s double bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” is fully set in the same neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It opens with women shaking bedding from the windows, waiters straightening up the chairs from last night’s wine, lovers snatching their last kiss. The characters then emerged from it and sang the story; at the end, {…}
“Pagliacci” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” is one of the signature double bills in opera that show offs the many qualities of a leading tenor. Both parts are known for their demanding vocal challenges and in many cases are sung by two different tenors. However, in the Metropolitan Opera’s current revival of David McVicar’s production, Roberto Alagna triumphed in two of his best {…}
In the beginning of the 20th-century there was a snootiness about verismo opera. All of its propagators – Puccini, Giordano, Mascagni, among others – were accused of simplifying opera by eliminating many of its challenges. Those long showy lines of coloratura were long gone. In place of it, the singers began interspersing notes and passages with great long sighs or {…}
Alexander Pushkin is one of the greatest authors in the history of the world. He is also one of the writers who has had the greatest impact in the world of opera. Perhaps only such authors as Victor Hugo or William Shakespeare have seen as many of their works adapted to the opera stage as has Pushkin. And while those other {…}
Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” has endured as a staple of the operatic canon since its premiere back on May 21, 1892. Leoncavallo was reportedly inspired to take on the work after seeing the success of Mascagni’s masterwork “Cavalleria Rusticana” and set out to write his own Verismo opera in one-act form. The result was a success that has often been associated with {…}
It is always a challenge to make a role debut in a season, particularly when it features some of the most challenging repertoire in the operatic repertoire. It is an even greater risk and challenge to make three in one season. But don’t tell Davinia Rodriguez as the soprano has spent this season doing just that and succeeding all the {…}
On Tuesday Dec. 6 the Paris National Opera will broadcast Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna.” The broadcast will mark the role debut of Elina Garanca in the role of Santuzza in “Cavalleria Rusticana.” Garanca recently noted that Santuzza was a dream role and was the basis of her newest album “Revive.” It also marks Garanca’s entry into dramatic Mezzo {…}