The Teatro alla Scala has announced the theatrical release of “La Scala: The Force of Destiny.” The 90-minute feature-documentary directed by Anissa Bonnefont will be released on the Nov. 2 in theaters in France. The film is the first documentary co-produced under a new partnership between RAI Documentari & France Télévisions. This feature documentary produced by Federation Studios (Myriam Weil) {…}
The Teatro Massimo di Palermo has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Rachmaninov’s “Aleko” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” will be performed in a double bill. Francesco Lanzillotta conducts the production by Silvia Paoli, who will put the two operas in a dialogue. Brian Jagde, Carolina López Moreno, and Elchin Azizov star. Opening Night: Nov. 21, 2025 Puccini’s “La bohème” will star Anastasia Bartoli, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Hasmik {…}
The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. The Constellation Choir & Orchestra under Sir John Eliot Gardiner perform Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2025 Fabio Luisi conducts the Wiener Symphoniker in Franz Schmidt’s “Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.” Soloists incude Maximilian Schmitt, David Steffens, Giulia {…}
French baritone Ludovic Tézier has joined the roster of GM Art&Music for General Management. Gianluca Macheda will manage him. Tézier is one of the most acclaimed baritones of his generation, having performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Real, Liceu, and at the Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg festivals. He is known for his interpretations {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Riccardo Frizza conducting Cherubini’s “Medea” in a production by Mario Martone. Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role alongside Francesco Meli, Giorgi Manoshvili, Désirée Giove, and Anita Rachvelishvili. Performance Dates: Dec. 3-16, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Maria Agresta, Désirée Giove, Francesco Demuro, and Mimmo Borrelli star in Ennio {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. New Productions “Lohengrin” will get a new production by András Almási-Tóth. Martin Rajna conducts two separate casts starring Christopher Sokolowski, Szabolcs Brickner, Johanni van Oostrum, Klára Kolonits, Egils Siliņš, Károly Szemerédy, Judit Kutasi, and Szilvia Rálik, among others. Performance Dates: Nov. 15-20, 2025 There will be a world premiere double bill {…}
“Tosca”—yet another one. OperaDIS lists no fewer than 250 recordings, but stops short after the year 2009. For all we know, the newest release—by DG—may be the 500th in an endless loop of “recondite armonie.” But “Tosca” has not lost its appeal, and any new, star-studded interpretation is likely to elicit widespread attention. This is most certainly the case when {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its production of “Tannhäuser.” The company said that Martin Gantner will sing the role of Wolfram, replacing Ludovic Tézier. The cancellation came at the same time as the baritone was forced to cancel his “Parsifal” performances also in Vienna, which were held on April 17, 20, and 23, and was replaced by {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, audiences will get to see a complete recording of Verdi’s early masterpiece with one of the most important baritones of today. There is also a debut album but one of today’s primadonnas and an experimental debut album by an esteemed mezzo. {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the operas and recitals for the new season. Premieres Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” will get a new production by Dirk Schmeding. The cast will be headed by Franz Xaver Schlecht, Margaret Plummer, Slávka Zámečníková, Ivo Stanchev, Monika Bohinec, Pavol Breslik, Michael Laurenz, Peter Kellner, Matthäus Schmidlechner, Ilia Staple, and Alex Ilvakhin. Tomáš Hanus conducts. A second cast will {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. It’s another week of many releases, including new complete opera recordings, solo albums, oratorios, and sacred works. John Weldon: The Judgment of Paris A long-lost masterpiece revived by Julian Perkins, Cambridge Handel Opera Company and Academy of Ancient Music Academy of Ancient Music {…}