The winners of third annual International Opera Conducting Competition at Opéra Royal de Wallone-Liège have been announced. The first prize winner was Sieva Borzak from Italy and Russia. The second prize went to Matteo Dal Maso from Italy, while the third prize was awarded to the Colombian-American Johann-Sebastian Guzman. Dal Maso also won a special distinction and the Audience Prize, {…}
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Giampaolo Bisanti conducting a production by Thaddeus Strassberger. Irina Lungu, Dmitry Korchak, and Simone Piazzola star. Performance Dates: Sept. 13-24, 2024 Leoš Janáček’s “Kát’a Kabanová” will star Anush Hovhannisyan, Anton Rositskiy, Nino Surguladze, Sergei Skorokhodov, Jana Kurucová, Dmitry Cheblykov, {…}
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège has announced that Dayner Tafur Diaz is the winner of the second edition of the International Competition for Opera Conductors. The second place went to Giulio Cilona while the third place went to Luis Toro Araya. All three performed with the Salle Philharmonique de Liège. Diaz will take home the sum of €10,000, as well as {…}
Belgium’s Opéra de Liège has announced a change of venue for its upcoming International Opera Conducting Competition due to a fire that broke out in the theater. General Director Stefano Pace said in a press release, “on July 7 around 2 p.m., a fire broke out in the electrical panels located in the basement of the Théâtre Royal de Liège {…}
The Opéra Royale de Wallonie-Liège has announced its 2022-23 season. To kick things off, Jodie Devos takes on the title role in Delibes’ “Lakmé” alongside Philippe Talbot, Lionel Lhote, Pierre Doyen, and Marion Lebègue. Frédéric Chaslin conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 20-Oct. 1, 2022 Giuseppe Finzi conducts Rossini’s “Il Turco in Italia” with Bruno De Simone, Gianna Cañete Gallo, Guido Loconsolo, {…}
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège has announced that Giampaolo Bisanti is set to be the company’s next music director. His tenure will kick off at the start of the 2022-23 season and in his new post he will direct several opera productions and concerts every season. He will also preside over auditions for new orchestral and choral musicians. Bisanti debuted {…}
(Credit: Opera Online) The government of Belgium has decided to completely shut down theaters and opera houses due to the soaring number of COVID-19 Omicron infections. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that restrictions in the past three weeks had helped reduce COVID-19 infections, principally of the delta variant, since a late November peak. “But despite the slightly positive {…}
(Credit: Daniil Rabovsky) Tenor Sergey Romanovsky has canceled his participation in the title role of Rossini’s “Otello Ossia Il Moro di Venezia” for performances on Dec. 21 & 23 due to illness. As a result, tenor Anton Rositskiy will sing the role, while Grégoire Lugué-Thébaud will act it on the stage. Rositskiy joins a cast that includes Salome Jicia as {…}
(Credit: Gemma Escribano) Soprano Marina Monzó will perform the role of Die Königin der Nacht in the upcoming production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” at the Bayerische Staatsoper, replacing the originally scheduled Sabine Devieilhe. Monzó joins a cast that includes Pavol Breslik as Tamino, Olga Kulchynska as Pamina, and Günther Groissböck as Sarastro. The cast also includes Eliza Boom, Daria Proszek, {…}
(Credit: Speranza Scappucci official website) Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège has officially announced that Speranza Scappucci will not renew her term as the Music Director of the house, which is set to expire at the end of the 2021-22 season. Per an official statement, Scappucci declined the offer made by ORW’s General Director Stefano Pace to extend her term as the {…}
The General and Artistic Director of Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège Stefano Pace has announced that tenors Maxime Melnik and Zeno Popescu will no longer be appearing in the Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera and Gianni Santucci’s production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Per the statement, two singers were dropped from the production because it was estimated that they did not satisfy {…}