Anna Netrebko is set to make her Bayreuth Festival debut in 2019. The festival confirmed that the Russian soprano would sing two performances of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” next year. Netrebko, who was originally asked to open the new production by Yuval Sharon this year, made her role debut as Elsa in 2016 at the Dresden Semperoper and later went on to {…}
Piotr Beczala is one of today’s biggest stars in the world. He has performed in arguably every major theater and has given historical performances in numerous signature roles. And this week he becomes the first Polish tenor to perform the role of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival in his company debut. Jumping in a month before opening, Beczala will {…}
This Tuesday, June 26, 2018, the Vienna State Opera streams a live performance of Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” The showcase is part of the company’s season-long service straight from its website. Per the official website, the Wagner work will feature Jongmin Park, Christopher Ventris, Annette Dasch, Jukka Rasilainen, Elena Zhidkova, and Adrian Eröd. Sebastian Weigle leads the massive score in a production {…}
Its preludes are themselves landmarks of beauty – but Wagner’s 1850 opera “Lohengrin” is a prelude to his future epics. Rooted in Arthurian legend, taking the son of King Parsifal as its hero, and featuring prayers to the pagan gods Wotan and Freia, it is another battle between the divine and the mortal. In mythical medieval Brabant, Count Friedrich von {…}
Singing Wagner is never an easy feat and he is a composer many singers train years to take on. His music is known for its length and for its technical challenges and in many cases, it is extremely taxing. This week Jennifer Davis takes a major step in her career singing her highest profile assignment to date – Elsa in “Lohengrin.” {…}
For years Eric Cutler was known as a lyric tenor singing high-flying bel canto lines and light tenor roles. He was in demand for operas by Donizetti, Bellini and Gounod. However, in recent years Cutler’s voice has grown into a dramatic tenor taking on heavier roles from Massenet, Offenbach, Strauss, Bizet, and Beethoven. This week he sings “Lohengrin.” Cutler makes his {…}
It’s Valentine’s Day, the day to cherish a significant other. Last year we took a cynical look at the holiday, but not this year. Opera is rife with love, almost every single plot in every single work has some communion of two persons in that blissful word. In fact, love in opera has incited just as many battles and tension {…}
Anna Netrebko is set to star in three new co-productions at the Metroplitan Opera and the Bolshoi. In their first co-production collaboration ever, the Bolshoi and the Met have announced plans to create new productions of “Aida,” “Salome” and “Lohengrin,” with performances to set to take place in New York and Moscow between 2019 and 2022. The two companies will {…}
René Pape is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, living bass of his generation. He has performed with all the leading opera companies and has sung numerous leading roles. But there is a composer that he has become associated with, in particular, Wagner. In celebration of Pape’s birthday on Sept. 4, 1964, OperaWire looks at some of {…}
Ramón Vinay was one of the greatest dramatic tenors of all-time, his dark and potent voice often cited as the shining example of what Verdi’s “Otello” should sound like. In fact, Carlo Bergonzi famously declared that Vinay’s was the only one he found suitable for the role of the tragic Moor. Vinay, born on August 31, 1912, in Chile, actually {…}
Anna Netrebko has recently confirmed a plethora of major productions she will be taking on over the next few years. In an interview with the magazine Classica, the Russian diva announced that she will take on the role of Lisa in “The Queen of Spades” in Salzburg in either 2018 or 2019 with Mariss Jansons at the podium. She also {…}