Opera, especially Grand Opera, has always had a predilection for throwing up stories that test the boundaries of credibility and border on indelicacy, and Verdi operas frequently bask in both. “Don Carlo,” one of Verdi’s later works although arguably written whilst in his prime, is a truly convoluted tale, mostly fictional although involving true historical figures, that involves conflict, war, {…}
Valencia’s Palau de les Arts’ 2023-24 season featuring opera, recitals, concerts, and zarzuela. Opera Dima Orsho and Carla Nahadi Babelegoto star in “Women at Point Zero.” Performance Date: Sept. 15, 2023 James Gaffigan conducts Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” in Richard Jones’ production. The cast includes Arsen Soghomonyan, Doris Soffel, Ekaterina Guseva, Elena Maximova, Roman Burdenko, and Nikolay Zemlianskikh. Performance {…}
The Grieghallen in Bergen, Norway may not be a particularly architecturally stunning building, and the 1500-seat hall inside is rather functional. But all of these factors are forgotten once the music starts, and you are immersed in the wonderful acoustics of the hall. This was also the case at the premiere of the 71st Festival with a concert performance of {…}
The Teatro de la Zarzuela has announced its 2023-24 season featuring zarzuela productions, concerts, and recitals. Zarzuela The season opens with “El Caballero del Olmedo” starring Joel Prieto, Cesar Arrieta, Rocio Perez, Alba Chantar, German Olvera, Ramiro Maturana, Nicola Beller Carbone, Berna Perles, Gerado Bullon, and Ruben Amoretti. Guillermo Garcia Calvo conducts the production by Lluis Pasqual’s production. Performance Dates: {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2023 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Paul Lewis, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Dalia Stasevska perform the first night of Proms. Performance Date: July 14, 2023 Early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico explores the many facets of William Byrd. Performance Date: July 15, 2023 Soprano Rainelle {…}
Fathom Events and the Metropolitan Opera will present a live broadcast of “Der Rosenkavalier” on Saturday, April 15, 2023. The opera, which will be conducted by Simone Young, stars Samatha Hankey, Erin Morley, Lise Davidsen, Günther Groissböck, Brian Mulligan, Katharine Goeldner, René Barbera, and Thomas Ebenstein. Of this year’s revival, OperaWire’s review noted that “this production of “Der Rosenkavalier” is {…}
The Wigmore Hall has announced its 2023-24 season headlining some of the greatest recitalists and vocalist in the world. Opera Rara: present Donizetti and Friends with Lawrence Brownlee, Etienne Dupuis, and Carlo Rizzi. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Asmik Grigorian and Lukas Geniušas perform Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2023 Ensemble Modern and George Benjamin perform music by {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) Over the past few seasons, few artists have gotten as much buzz as soprano Lise Davidsen. She’s been called “A Voice in a Million” by none other than Antonio Pappano and she’s become a major Met fixture, garnering top billing in numerous Strauss operas over the past few seasons. Perhaps none came with greater than anticipation than {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2023-24 Season featuring many new productions and many of the great stars in the world. Alexander Soddy conducts Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with a cast that includes Peter Mattei, Kyle Ketelsen, Adela Zaharia, Julia Kleiter, Ben Bliss, Cyrille Dubois, John Relyea, Gaëlle Arquez, Tara Erraught, Alex Esposito, Bogdan Talos, Guilhem Worms, Ying Fang, and {…}
The Osterfestspiele Salzburg has announced its 2024 season. The season will feature the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir. Antonio Pappano. Sir. Antonio Pappano will conduct the rarely performed Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda“ for the first time at the Easter Festival. The new production by British director Oliver Mears will star Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, and Luca Salsi. In a {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to perform Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” with Lise Davidsen returning to the Met stage. The opera, which will be showcased seven times between March 27 and April 20, will also feature mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey in her house role debut as Octavian, Soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, and bass Günther Groissböck as Baron Ochs. Maestro Simone Young, {…}