(Photo credit: Jiyang Chen) The Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera Center, concludes its 41st season with a performance by Leah Crocetto and pianist Carrie-Ann Matheson. The third and final concert of the series showcases music by Clara Schumann, Richard Strauss, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Giuseppe Verdi, Stephen Sondheim, and others. Baritone Lester Lynch will join {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get a good helping of baroque favorites and rarities, star-studded albums, world premieres and some fantastic modern works by recognized composers. Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem The new album showcases Wainwright’s “Dream Requiem,” an epic work for orchestra, chorus, soprano, {…}
The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 18, 2025, at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. The showcase will see the ensemble join forces with the Harvard Glee Club and baritone Lester Lynch. YPC’s Francisco J. Núñez will join forces with conductors Maria C. Peña, Caitlin Henning, and {…}
The score of Gordon Getty’s “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” breathes all the unpretentiously sweet melancholy of its many predecessors – from James Hilton’s 1933 novella of the same title to subsequent adaptations as, among others, radio plays and lavishly cast movie musicals. Yet it is not exactly the feel-good opera advertised in Pentatone’s press release; rather, the eponymous Mr. Chips – {…}
(photo: Pix Talarico) The Young People’s Chorus of New York City has announced the first season of “Out of the Vox,” a Short Film Series hosted by founder and artistic director Francisco J. Núñez. “’Out of the Vox’ gives audiences the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the amazing people behind world-class performances,” Núñez said in an official press release. “By sharing {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, audiences will get to hear a world premiere recording of a new opera. There are also three solo albums including one historic recording and one from a great diva of our time. Here is a look! Jacqueline Pentatone releases the new {…}
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is set to present a concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert will be performed on May 2 at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with Sir Simon Rattle conducting a program featuring baritone Lester Lynch. The evening will include Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, Hindemith’s “Ragtime (Well-Tempered),” and Zemlinsky’s “Symphonische Gesänge, Op. 20.” The latter works {…}
The Young People’s Chorus of New York City is teaming up with the Yale Glee Club to presente a special performance in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 14, 2024. The free concert will be headlined by baritone Lester Lynch. On the program will be works by Ricky Ian Gordon, as well as other songs arranged by Lynch {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week you get albums from two very famous singers, a soundtrack to one of this year’s Oscar contenders, and two complete opera recordings you cannot miss. Maestro Deutsche Grammophon releases the official soundtrack to Bradley Cooper’s new film “Maestro.” The recording features {…}
After this summer’s “Un Ballo in Maschera,” the forces behind the Dutch label Pentatone are turning their attention to another heavy-hitter from the Italian repertoire: with “Tosca” they enter the well-trodden territory of one of the most recorded operas ever. Yet, Carlo Montanaro and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester do not pretend to proverbially reinvent the wheel the way Rostropovich famously did in {…}
The forces behind the Dutch label Pentatone are deserving of every accolade for producing beautifully engineered recordings. This is especially important considering that heavy hitters like Warner and Sony only hesitatingly, and with big marketing efforts, venture into the operatic realm, knowing that its share of profitability has long become a calculated and somewhat unwanted risk. Critics will surely remember {…}