Diana Damrau, Denyce Graves, Isabel Leonard, Terrence Blanchard, Morris Robinson Headline Top 10 Operas to Stream This Week

This week climaxes in World Opera Day on Oct. 25. So in leading up to that momentous celebration (which will feature half of the entries on this list), our recommendations will spotlight diversity in the opera world, offering up audiences a chance to check out works by and featuring BIPOC composers and performers as well as unique performance experiences that {…}

Thomas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni, Fatma Said, & Lidia Fridman Lead New CD/DVD Releases

This week, audiences can experience world premiere recordings, a debut album, and a number of rising stars. Here are this week’s must-streamed releases. L’Ange de Nisida Dynamic releases the world premiere DVD of the first-ever staging of the reconstructed “L’Ange de Nisida.” The work, which was long-presumed-lost semiserious opera, was directed by Francesco Micheli and starred Lidia Fridman, Konu Kim, {…}

Sondra Radvanovsky, Isabel Leonard, Luca Pisaroni, Brian Jagde Highlight OperaVision World Opera Day Concert

(Credits: Michael Cooper / Boston Symphony Orchestra official website / Jiyang Chen / Fay Fox OperaVision has announced, in collaboration with Opera Europa, Opera America, Ópera Latinoamérica, and Opera For Peace, the final program for the big World Opera Day Celebration concert on Oct. 25, 2020. The concert is structured in four acts, in four different time zones. The first {…}

Lisette Oropesa, Nadine Sierra, Samuel Ramey, Luca Pisaroni Headline San Francisco Opera’s Streaming Slate in October

San Francisco Opera has announced its streaming slate for the month of October. The company will kick things off with “Tosca” in a production from 2014 starring Lianna Harooutounian in the title role alongside Brian Jagde and Mark Delavan as Cavaradossi and Scarpia, respectively. Riccardo Frizza conducted the production by Thierry Bosquet. Streaming Dates: Oct. 10-11, 2020 Ferruccio Furlanetto, Samuel {…}

Antonio Pappano, Leah Hawkins & Markus Werba Lead Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia’s 2020-21 Season

(Credit: Musacchio & Ianniello) The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy has announced its 2020-21 season. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on the vocal performances. The season opens with Gerhild Romberger and Clay Hilley performing Bruckner’s “Te Deum” and Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde.” Antonio Pappano conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 16-18, 2020 {…}

Joyce DiDonato, Luca Pisaroni, Franco Fagioli, Sandrine Piau, Nicky Spence Clinch 2020 Gramophone Awards

(Credits: Sandrine Expilly / Bertie Watson) The Gramophone has announced its 2020 Awards. The top Opera recording went to the Erato’s release of Handel’s “Agrippina”, featuring Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Luca Pisaroni, Franco Fagioli, Jakub Józef Orliński, Andrea Mastroni, Carlo Vistoli, Biagio Pizzuti, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Maxim Emelyanychev conducted the Il Pomo d’Oro orchestra. Sandrine Piau received the Recital prize {…}

Luca Pisaroni Headlines Decameron Opera Coalition’s Operatic Reimagining of ‘The Decameron’

(Credit: Frances Marshall) In 1353, a few years after the Black Death raged in Florence, Giovanni Boccaccio finished “The Decameron,” 100 stories told by seven women and three men holed up in a countryside villa as they awaited the passing of the plague. It’s a classic of literature, many times bawdy, sometimes tragic, and extremely apropos considering our present-day pandemic. {…}

Christian Gerhaher, Joyce DiDonato, Józef Orliński, Benjamin Bernheim Among Nominees for Gramophone Awards 2020

Credit: Gregor Hohenberg/Sony Gramophone has announced the recordings that have advanced to the final round of the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2020. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on vocal, choral, and opera categories. The first contestant in the opera category is the Barber’s “Vanessa,” performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Glyndebourne Chorus, under the musical {…}

Beverly Sills, Jessye Norman Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez Headline Week 16 of Metropolitan Opera’s Nightly Streams

The Metropolitan Opera has announced week 16 of its Nightly Streams. This coming week’s streams feature a wide range of options including a showcase starring Beverly Sills, Shostakovich opera, a classic Ring performance, some Bel Canto magic, and a historic performance from the 2018-19 season. Monday, June 29 – Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment Conducted by Enrique Mazzola; starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie {…}