(Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t again mention this year that opera should always be more about the music and the singing than the staging. Alas, I find myself having to break that promise after sitting through the revival of Richard Jones’s 2022 production of “Samson et Dalila” at the Royal Ballet and Opera. {…}
The Atlanta Opera has announced its 2026-27 season. The season opens with Kevin Puts’ “Silent Night” starring Kameron Lopreore, Sylvia D’Eramo, Luke Sutliff, and Aleksey Bogdanov. Iván López Reynoso conducts the production by Tomer Zvulun. Performance Dates: Nov. 7-15, 2026 The company will present Peter Rothstein’s “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” as part of the Discoveries Series. Matt Torney {…}
(Credit: Mark Brenner) For the second time in only a few months, I find myself reviewing a production I have seen before where I was initially very critical of what I perceived to be a weak production, creatively, but inexplicably having a change of heart the second time around. So as not to face accusations of hypocrisy or worse, senility; {…}
(Photo: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photography by Richard Hubert Smith) “Carmen” is unquestionably one of the most popular works ever composed and has become an almost permanent fixture in the repertoire of opera houses. However, this presents something of a dilemma for those creative artists and directors who desire to produce the opera in a more contemporary setting and feel {…}
The Polish National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. New Opera Productions The first new production is Krzysztof Penderecki’s “The Black Mask” directed by David Pountney. Bassem Akiki conducts a cast that includes Jacek Laszczkowski, Natalia Rubiś, Katarzyna Drelich, Anna Lubańska, Szymon Rona, and Wojtek Gierlach. Performance Dates: Nov. 22-29, 2024 Ill-starred love is also the theme of Łukasz Godyla’s “Wòlô bòskô.” The cycle of {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2024 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Elim Chan conducts the First Night at Proms with soloists Sophie Bevan and Isata Kanneh‐Mason. The program includes Handel, Ben Nobuto, Beethoven Bruckner, and Clara Schumann. Performance Date: July 19, 2024 British choral groups The King’s Singers and VOCES8 present a Prom that showcases {…}
(Photo: SF/Monika Rittershaus) Bohuslav Martinů’s opera “The Greek Passion” is a work still in search of its audience. The opera, seldom performed, is considered to be one of Martinů’s finest compositions. This season’s Salzburg Festival tried hard to make “The Greek Passion” a rare and visually noteworthy production. But it didn’t quite work out. The opera’s political radicalness and musical accomplishments are {…}
(© 2022 ROH. Photograph by Clive Barda) Camille Saint–Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” received its first new production – indeed first performance – at the Royal Opera House in nearly 20 years, replacing Elijah Moshinsky’s, which had a vintage of 1981 (before this reviewer was even born). It’s a tricky work to get right – traditionalist stagings feel uncomfortably Orientalist, sometimes {…}
(Credit: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra official website) The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has announced an upcoming presentation of Leoncavallo’s rarely performed operatic jewel “Zingari” on Dec. 3, 2021. Based on Pushkin’s poem “The Gypsies,” the opera presents a tale of passion, jealousy and the tumultuous throes of unrequited love. Soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, tenor Arsen Soghomonyan, baritone Stephen Gaertner, and bass-baritone Łukasz Goliński {…}
Opera Rara has announced it will be recording Leoncavallo’s “Zingari.” The record company announced that it will record the rarely performed work and perform it at Cadogan Hall on Dec. 3 with a cast that includes Krassimira Stoyanova, Carlos Álvarez, Łukasz Goliński, and Arsen Soghomonyan. Carlo Rizzi, the company’s new Music Director will lead the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The new {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / Angela Gheorghiu official website / Michael Cooper / Kasskara/DG / Chris Singer) The Royal Opera House Covent Garden has announced full details of its exciting 2021-22 season, which will star some of the world’s greatest performers. The Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season and digital program will be announced {…}