Going into its 114th year, the Ravinia Festival brings together artists from all over the world to perform in the longest-running music festival in America. Here are some of the highlights of Ravinia Festival’s 2018 season: Soprano Jeanine De Bique: BGH Classics Series The program will include selections from Mozart, Strauss, and Wolf. De Bique will also perform a number {…}
The Vienna State Opera will be live streaming its presentation of Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. The performance features Isabel Leonard in the title role. But the superstar will also be joined by the likes of Luca Pisaroni, Alessio Ardiuni, Maxim Mironov, and Paolo Rumetz. Jean-Christophe Spinosi will conduct with Sven-Eric Bechtolf as director. The stream kicks {…}
The International Opera Award nominations have bee announced. The organization, which seeks to recognize the best of the industry recognizes 18 categories. This year the nominees for Female Singer are Malin Byström, Carmen Giannattasio, Barbara Hannigan, who recently won the Grammy, Hui He, Ermonela Jaho and Eva-Maria Westbroek. In the Male Singer category, Piotr Beczała is nominated alongside Günther Groissböck, Peter Mattei, Eric Owens, {…}
The Houston Grand Opera is primed for an exciting 2018-19 season after a tumultuous fall of 2017. Combining major classics with some unique modern works. What makes these productions all the more exciting are the artists themselves. And the company did a tremendous casting job this season. Here are the five artists that will make some major headlines this season {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2018-19 season featuring six productions of German, Italian, Spanish and French repertoire. There will also be a world premiere, the first for the company in over a decade. The season opens with “The Flying Dutchman” on Oct. 19 with Andrzej Dobber in the title role and Rachel Willis-Sørensen in the role of Senta. Kristinn Sigmundsson sings {…}
Being one of the most in-demand artists around is never easy. But Luca Pisaroni has found a way to balance his professional and his personal life in a way that the two work together. In a recent interview with OperaWire, the bass commented on his lifestyle, his approach to learning new roles, and his reinterpretation of old ones. Always at {…}
Next up on the Vienna State Opera’s live streaming service will be Mozart’s perennial masterpiece “Don Giovanni.” The performance will be streamed live around the world on Jan. 20, 2018. This performance will feature a cast that includes Ludovic Tézier, Ekaterina Siurina, Jinxu Xiahou, Annette Dasch, and Luca Pisaroni. Sascha Goetzel conducts a production directed by Jean-Louis Martinoty. The stream {…}
This week the first releases of 2018 will finally land in stores. Among those showcased are rarities and one masterpiece. Here is a look! “Le Nozze di Figaro” Luca Pisaroni stars as Figaro in a new DVD of Mozart’s masterpiece. The production from the Theatre des Champs-Elysees also stars Pietro Spagnoli as Count Almaviva, Annette Dasch as La Contessa, and Rosemary {…}
December is one week old. While the companies are winding down on their programming, the artists are still going strong on social media. This week’s picks range from new scores to powerful messages to fun times with friends. Enjoy! Pavol Breslik decided to show some holiday cheer… My st. Nicholas today is very good for my hips and extra kilos {…}
For decades Renée Fleming has been a shining star on the world’s great opera stages, none more so than the Metropolitan Opera. From her victory at the National Council Auditions in 1988 to her debut three years later to her final performance at the tail end of the 2016-17 season, Fleming was the Met’s diva. While her future as an opera star remains a {…}
It’s going to be a busy December with the Met showcasing a number of revivals leading up to a major new production on the final day of the year. The first work to makes its return to the repertoire is one of its finest (it was even named the Greatest Opera of All Time in a recent survey) – Mozart’s {…}