The Gran Teatre del Liceu will showcase a production of “Manon Lescaut” on Saturday, June 16, 2018. The performance will be broadcast on La 2 in Barcelona as well as in Madrid in the Plaza Mayor and on mobile devices via RTVE. The performance will star Liudmyla Monastyrska in the title role with David Bizic as her brother. Gregory Kunde {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment we will take a {…}
Graham Vick having already produced “Manon Lescaut” in a traditional manner, a production with which he admitted to being less than pleased with, decided to take a fundamentally different approach for this production at the Teatro Filharmonico, Verona. Instead of presenting it as a simple narrative, Vick represented the work as a “morality lesson,” in a modern day setting, but {…}
Three years before he premiered “La Bohème,” Puccini gave the world “Manon Lescaut.” The opera, based on the novel by Abbé Prévost, premiered on Feb. 1, 1893, and put Puccini in the public eye as a serious opera composer. The work differs quite greatly from the “Manon” of Massenet, the Tuscan maestro himself comparing his interest in the subject matter {…}
Daniel Auber, born on Jan. 29, 1782, was one of France’s leading composers in his day. During his time he was a master of the ópera comique and featured prominently throughout his home-country. He had a long-running collaboration with noted librettist Eugène Scribe. In sum, he has over 30 works to his name. And yet, he isn’t part of the {…}
Puccini, born on Dec. 22, 1858, has provided the entire world with some of the greatest operas ever conceived by mankind. With his lush melodies that pull on anyone’s heartstrings and his incredible sense of drama, the composer became the Italian heir to Verdi and essentially the end of the formal line of Italian tradition. After Puccini’s death in the {…}
Karine Babajanyan is well known for her wide-ranging repertoire in the lirico-spinto fach, performing the works of Verdi and Puccini and many of the Verismo composers. She has particularly become well-known for her interpretations of “Madama Butterfly,” “Tosca,” “Aida,” Amelia in “Un Ballo in Maschera” and has travelled to many of the leading theaters including the Berlin Staatsoper, the Hamburg Staatsoper, {…}
Tonight l’Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège will showcase a live stream of its performance of “Manon Lescaut.” The live stream will be broadcast via Culture Box. The performance, conducted by Speranza Scappucci will feature soprano Anna Pirozzi in the title role. Tenor Marcello Giordani takes on the role of her doomed lover Des Grieux. The production also features Ionut Pascut as {…}
There are still some companies waiting to announce their 2017-18 season, but one organization is taking a different approach, unveiling its 2019 calendar. It will be interesting to find out what, if any, impact Opera Holland Park’s decision to announce the 2019 season will have, but it is still quite fascinating to see what the company has in store. The {…}
Happy Siblings day for all of you who have the fortune of having loving brothers and sisters. Opera is filled with brother-sister pairings that either work together toward common goals or fight with one another to disastrous effect. Let’s take a look at some of opera’s most famous and unique sibling pairings. The Mozart Sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi are as {…}
It’s Valentine’s Day, a momentous occasion to celebrate love and romance. Romance is at the heart of opera with the art forms pull coming from our connection with beautiful love affairs. Most everyone melts at Rodolfo and Mimì’s blooming love in “La Bohème” or Alfredo and Violetta’s in “La Traviata.” We admire the sacrifice of Roméo and Juliette or even {…}