(Photo: Krzysztof Mystkowski) What do you expect to find in a Polish forest? Chanterelles or blueberries, deer or foxes perhaps. But opera? That’s how it is in the forest of the seaside resort of Sopot, not far from Gdansk, on the shores of the Baltic Sea. And has been since 1909! Not continuously, but over and over, so much so {…}
The Teatro San Carlo announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Dvořák’s “Rusalka” in a new production by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Dan Ettinger conducts a cast that includes Asmik Grigorian, Adam Smith, Ekaterina Gubanova, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Gábor Bretz. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-Dec. 7, 2024 Verdi’s “Don Carlo” will be conducted by Henrik Nánási and will star Piero Pretti, Gabriele Viviani, Ildar {…}
The Teatro Regio di Torino is set to present Puccini’s “Le Villi.” The opera will star Roberta Mantegna, Laura Giordano, Martin Muehle, Azer Zada, Simone Piazzola, and Gëzim Myshketa. Riccardo Frizza will conduct the rarely performed piece in a production by Pier Francesco Maestrini. Regarding the work, Frizza said, “In the centenary year of Puccini’s death, being celebrated at opera {…}
Credit: Teatro Real Teatro Real closes the 2022-23 season with 17 performances of Puccini’s “Turandot.” It is a revival of their own Robert Wilson production, which premiered at Teatro Real in 2018, featuring three different casts. The opera will be screened live in several squares all over Spain, will be shown on RTVE (The main Spanish Tv channel), and will {…}
(Photo: Monica Ritterhaus) Piotr Beczała has withdrawn from his remaining performances of “Turandot” at the Opernhaus Zürich. The tenor took to social media to announce that he has been struggling with a severe viral infection over the last six weeks and that unfortunately his body is too weak to take on the performances. Beczała He wrote, “Dear friends, as you {…}
The Teatro Regio di Torino has announced its 2023-24 season. Halévy’s “La Juive” will star Mariangela Sicilia, Gregory Kunde, Nina Minasyan, and Enkeleda Kamani. Daniel Oren conducts the production by Stefano Poda. Performance Dates: Sept. 19-Oct. 3, 2023 Offenbach’s “Un mari à la porte” will star Pawel Żak, Ksenia Chubunova, Amélie Hois, and Matteo Mollica. Riccardo Bisatti conducts Anna Maria Bruzzese’s production. Performance {…}
Piotr Beczala has canceled his upcoming concert at Andermatt Music on May 27, 2023. The tenor took to social media and said, “Dear friends, it is with great regret that I inform you that due to a strong infection, I am forced to cancel my participation in the concert in Andermatt. Warm greetings, Piotr.” As a result, Martin Muehle will {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2023-24 season featuring six new productions. Premieres Puccini’s “Il Trittico” is set to be directed by Pınar Karabulut and conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. “Il Tabarro” will star Misha Kiria, Jonathan Tetelman, Mikhail Pirogov, Carmen Giannattasio, and Maria Motolygina. Meanwhile “Suor Angelica” will star Mané Galoyan, Violeta Urmana, and Annika Schlicht. Finally, “Gianni Schicchi” {…}
(Credit: Simon Pauly) Jonas Kaufmann has canceled his upcoming performances of “Andrea Chénier” at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. The company said that the tenor is obliged to withdraw his participation in the new production for health issues. In a statement, the tenor said, “I am deeply saddened to be forced to withdraw from singing in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo’s production {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present “Turandot.” The work, which is part of a Puccini cycle, will be conducted by chief-conductor Lorenzo Viotti and staged by director Barrie Kosky. For his new production, Barrie Kosky has decided to steer clear of the orientalism of the early 20th century. He neither zooms in on the psychological aspects of the {…}
This week audiences will get a chance to listen to albums of modern music as well as classics by Haydn and Brahms. There is also a new DVD of Cilea’s verismo masterpiece. New York Pretending to be Paris Albany Records presents “New York Pretending to be Paris,” a new album featuring contemporary poetry transformed into captivating art songs by New {…}