Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” is set to be performed on Feb. 5 and 7 at the Baluarte Auditorium in Pamplona, Spain. The opera will be performed in concert form and will star Ainhoa Arteta in the title role and Roberto Aronica as Des Grieux. Manuel Hernández-Silva conducts the work, which is also set to star José Antonio López as Lescaut, Carlos Chausson as {…}
(Credit: Kevin Yatarola) Celebrated conductor Sir Simon Rattle has been appointed the new Chief Conductor of the Chor and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Rattle will begin his five-year tenure in 2023. The famed conductor served as the Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker until 2018, and currently holds the position of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. “Bayerischer Rundfunk {…}
Credits: Groves Artists official website / John Batten / Julian Hargreaves The government of the United Kingdom has officially announced the list of New Year Honours 2021. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has awarded the honors to a number of persons for outstanding achievements across the country. Among those awarded is opera director Graham Vick, who was knighted for his {…}
(Credit: © Barbara Aumüller/Archiv) Oper Frankfurt has announced that it will extend its closure until at least Jan. 31, 2021. The opera house has also announced changes to its repertoire, canceling the revivals of Bizet’s “Carmen” and Janáček’s “From the House of the Dead.” Instead, Oper Frankfurt plans to showcase more performances of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” {…}
(Credit: Rosellina Garbo) The Teatro Massimo di Palermo has released a recording of “Manon Lescaut.” The concert performance, which took place right before the theater closed, showcases Jader Bignamini conducting Anna Pirozzi in the title role, Yusif Eyvazov as Des Grieux, Alessio Arduini as Lescaut, and Luca Dall’Amico as Geronte di Ravoir. The recording was supported by YouTube – Google {…}
(Credit: Opus 3 Artists official website) The Office of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has announced the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2020. Among those honored was General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Donald Cameron Runnicles, who has been bestowed with the title of the Knights Bachelor, for services to Music. Donald Runnicles is concurrently the General Music Director {…}
(Credit: © Dario Acosta) The Teatro alla Scala has announced that celebrated Russian soprano Anna Netrebko will return to the stage on Oct. 21, 2020, following a recovery from COVID-19-induced hospitalization. Netrebko will perform a program that includes “Ritorna vincitor” from “Aida,” and “Tu che le vanità” from “Don Carlo” by Verdi; “Suicidio!” from Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda;” “Poveri fiori” from {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston) “One voice in a million.” This is the kind of phrase on which legacies, mythologies, histories are built. And it’s the phrase that continues to crop up whenever Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen enters the operatic conversation. The soprano has definitely played her part in bringing about this idea that her voice is of a unique power. She {…}
(Credit: Steven Pisano) I have always been partial to small and regional opera companies as they struggled to hold the flag high for the art of opera, often in the unlikeliest places. First, it seemed to me those small companies mirrored what was the norm in Europe, with so many of the small towns with their own opera theater and {…}
“Manon Lescaut” opened at the San Francisco Opera in a revival of Olivier Tambosi and Frank Philipp Schlossmann’s production. It was a reminder of many of the opera’s riches: lush musical textures with various orchestral harmonies; the rich exploration of human drama; and the insolence of fate. When Puccini set out to compose his opera on Manon, people chided him {…}
(Credit: Terrence McCarthy/San Francisc Opera) The San Francisco Opera is set to present Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” The company will present a revival of director Olivier Tambosi’s production reuniting soprano Lianna Haroutounian and tenor Brian Jagde for role debuts in yet another Puccini opera, after their last appearance together in San Francisco Opera’s 2014 “Tosca.” The stars will be led by former San {…}
