EuroArts has announced a recording of “Lucia di Lammermoor’ featuring Lisette Oropesa. The recording features the soprano alongside Stefan Pop as Edgardo, Mattia Olivieri, and Riccardo Zanellato. They are joined by the Coro del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania and Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania. Fabrizio Maria Carminati conducts. Oropesa has been celebrated for her interpretation of Lucia which {…}
(Photo: Amati Bacciardi / ROF 2025) Soirées musicales After the triumph of his last opera, “Guillaume Tell,” Gioachino Rossini decided to abandon theatrical composition and retire to his home in Paris to recover from nervous exhaustion. Even so, he never stopped writing music: he composed for himself, for Olympe Pélissier–whom he married in 1846 after the death of Isabella Colbran–and {…}
(Credit: Javier del Real / Teatro Real) Twenty years after its triumphant—and undeniably provocative—debut at the Salzburg Festival, Willy Decker’s “La Traviata” stormed the stage of Madrid’s Teatro Real. It is striking how a production that once shocked audiences has become a recognized classic, revealing its timeless, almost metaphysical essence. Premiered in 1853 at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, “La Traviata” {…}
The Palau de les Arts has announced its 2025-26 season. Lorenzo Viotti conducts Gounod’s “Faust” in a production by Johannes Erath. Iván Ayón-Rivas, Alex Esposito, Ruth Iniesta, Florian Sempey, and Ekaterine Buachidze. Performance Dates: Oct. 3-15, 2025 Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s “La descente d’Orphée aux enfers” will star Josipa Bilić, Camille Chopin, Sarah Fleiss, Tanaquil Ollivier, Sydney Frodsham, Richard Pittsinger, Bastien Rimondi, Attila {…}
(Photo credit: Brescia and Amisano) “I should reproach myself even more if I were to allow myself to be credited with the initiative for the new genre of Italian opera … it is to my librettist Calzabigi that the main credit goes …” Gluck, letter of 1775 Let us speak directly of the opera at hand, recently brought to the {…}
(Photo credit: Brescia and Amisano) One of the most common phenomena of the 18th century was the pilgrimage of European composers to Italy, seeking to immerse themselves in the “alla italiana” compositional technique and then return to their homelands to apply this revolutionary formula. Such was the case of Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729–1774), who left his native Bohemia to settle {…}
Prima Classic is hinting at a new recording of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.” The recording company posted a picture of the Teatro San Carlo’s poster of the current cast of the Verdi opera and said, “‘Simon Boccanegra!’ Something is going on…” The cast for the upcoming concert performances includes Ludovic Tézier in the title role, Michele Pertusi as Jacopo Fiesco, Mattia Olivieri as {…}
The Teatro Mssismo di Palermo has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Ligeti’s “Le Grand Macabre” which will be performed for the first time in Palermo. Omer Meir Wellber conducts the opera in a production by Barbora Horáková. Performance Dates: Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2024 Mario Martone directs Verdi’s “Otello” with a cast that includes Yusif Eyvazov, Nicola {…}
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra“ in a production by Richard Jones. Michele Mariotti conducts the production with a cast that includes Luca Salsi in the title role, Eleonora Buratto, Stefan Pop, and Michele Pertusi. The opening night will be streamed on Rai5 and Radio3. Another cast will {…}
The Tiroler Festspiele Erl has announced its 2024-25 season. Fall Nikola Hillebrand performs alongside Simply Quartet and Musicbanda Franui. Performance Date: Oct. 4, 2024 Winter J. S. Bach’s “Das Weihnachtsoratorium” will be conducted by Vinzenz Praxmarer and will star Anna El-Kashem, Stefanie Irányi, Martin Mitterrutzner, and Wilhelm Schwinghammer. Performance Date: Dec. 8, 2024 Asher Fisch conducts a new production of Puccini’s “La {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Josep Pons conducts Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” with Alexei Botnarciuc, Daniel Kirch, Sara Jakubiak, Ángeles Blancas, and Pavel Černoch. Àlex Ollé conducts. Performance Date: Sept. 25-Oct. 7, 2024 Maria Agresta and Saioa Hernández star in Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” with Artur Ruciński, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Brian {…}