A number of major figures of the opera world have received major distinctions as part of the King’s Birthday Honours. Opera North’s general director Richard Mantle will be knighted while conductor Ivor Bolton will be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Finally, soprano Lucy Crowe and tenor Nicky Spence will be Officers of the Order of {…}
The Bavarian Radio Symphony has announced its 2023-24 season. Here are the vocal performances. Sir Simon Rattle conducts Haydn’s “The Creation” with Lucy Crowe, Benjamin Bruns, and Christian Gerhaher. Performance Dates: Sept. 21-24, 2023 Sir Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Chorus perform Berio and Vito Zuraj. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2023 Constantinos Carydis conducts Louise Alder in a program {…}
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 {…}
This week audiences will get a chance to hear unreleased recordings from one of the legendary sopranos of our time. There will also be new solo albums, world premieres, and rarely performed operas. Decca Classics to Release Jessye Norman – The Unreleased Masters Decca releases unreleased recordings of legendary soprano Jessye Norman. The set includes an extraordinary performance of “Tristan {…}
Musikfest Berlin has announced its 2022 season featuring international orchestras and soloists. Here is a selection of the vocal highlights of the season. Lucy Crowe, Ann Hallenberg, Giovanni Sala, and William Thomas perform Beethiven’s Missa Solemnis with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. John Eliot Gardiner conducts. Performance Date: August 31, 2022 Magdalena Kožená and Yefim Bronfman perform a {…}
(Credit: Julia Wesely) The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2022-23 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal and operatic performances. The season opens with Mahler’s Second Symphony conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. Lauren Snouffer and Marie-Nicole Lemieux will be the soloists. Performance Dates: Sept. 29 & 30, 2022 John Adams will conduct a performance of his {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard) On January 8, 2022, the Metropolitan Opera presented the season premiere for Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The matinee performance saw the audience gather for an afternoon of musical comedy. While not a full house, there was a respectable turnout amid concerns over the Omicron variant which has seen closures and cancellations worldwide. As people found their {…}
(Credit: Chris Lee) The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The production by Richard Eyre will be shown six times starting Jan. 8 through 28, 2022. Maestro Daniele Rustioni will lead the production with a cast that includes Golda Schultz in her Met role debut as Countess Almaviva and Adam Plachetka as Count Almaviva. When {…}
(Credit: © Ranald Mackechnie) The London Symphony Orchestra has announced the second half of its 2021-22 season at the Barbican and LSO St Luke’s, taking place between January and July 2022. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on vocal works. Soprano Siobhan Stagg, the London Symphony Chorus and London Symphony Orchestra perform works by Julian Anderson, Mahler, {…}
(Credit: Hans van der Woerd) The Metropolitan Opera House has announced that its Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will not be conducting a run of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in January 2022. Per a press release, Nézet-Séguin will be taking a brief, almost four-week sabbatical from all conducting duties commencing Dec. 19, 2021. “This short break will allow time for {…}
St. Martin-in-the-Fields has announced its Spring 2022 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on soley vocal performances. Soprano Natalya Romaniw and pianist Iain Burnside will initiate the new ENO in the Fields program, a collaboration with the English National Opera. Performance Date: Feb. 12, 2022 I Fagiolini will take on baroque music for multiple choirs {…}