Angelica Antonini, Núria Rial, Andrzej Filończyk, Mark Padmore Star in National Forum of Music’s 2026-27 Season

The National Forum of Music announces its 2026-27 season. This article feature classical voice works only. Mark Padmore performs Bach’s “Ich habe genug” at the Krzyżowa-Music festival. Performance Date: Aug. 30, 2026 Thomas Guggeis conducts a concert version of Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” starring Brian Jagde and Anita Rachvelishvili in the title roles. They are joined by Kostas Smoriginas, Peter {…}

Apr 3, 2026

Sophie Rennert, Anna Bonitatibus, Salvador Simão, Jonathan Eyers Lead Innsbruck Festival of Early Music’s 2026 Season

Innsbruck Festival of Early Music announces its 50th season. This article only features vocal events. Ottavio Dantone leads the Accademia Bizantina Ensemble in a workshop concert. Performance Date: July 25, 2026 Lauren Lodge-Campbell, Nicolò Balducci, and Jonathan Eyers perform alongside Il Gusto Barocco Ensemble under the direction of Jörg Halubek. Performance Date: August 1, 2026 Anna Bonitatibus gives a masterclass. {…}

Mar 20, 2026

Wratislavia Cantans Unveils 2026 Program

The Wratislavia Cantans announces its 2026 season. This article only features vocal events. Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” stars Brian Jagde, Anita Rachvelishvili, and Kostas Smoriginas. They are joined by the NFM Choir led by Lionel Sow and the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic. Thomas Guggeis conducts. Performance Date: September 3, 2026 Angelica Antonini performs with Il Giardino Armonico under the baton of {…}

Mar 2, 2026

Cecilia Bartoli, Ian Bostridge, Maayan Licht & Carlo Vistoli Lead 2026 Monteverdi Festival

(Credit: Fabrice Demessence) The Monteverdi Festival announces its 2026 programming. This article only features vocal concerts. Cecilia Bartoli opens the Festival in a gala concert with Les Musiciens du Prince conducted by Gianluca Capuano. Performance Date: May 28, 2026 The Monteverdi Festival opens with “Vespers Of The Blessed Virgin” under the baton of Leonardo García-Alarcón. Performance Date: June 7, 2026 {…}

Dec 5, 2024

Ravenna 2024 Review: ‘Hail! Bright Cecilia’ & ‘Dido and Aeneas’

(Photo: Zani-Casadio) Following on from the previous day’s performance of Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria,” Ravenna’s Teatro Alighieri continued with a production of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” coupled with “Hail, Bright Cecelia,” presented by the same cast under the musical direction of Ottavio Dantone. The fact that Pier Luigi Pizzi, who had been responsible for the lackluster staging {…}

Dec 4, 2024

Ravenna 2024 Review: Il Ritorno Di Ulisse In Patria

(Photo: Zani-Casadio) In his program notes, the director, Pier Luigi Pizzi, writing about “Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria,” stated that “the opera speaks for itself,” adding, “we must not induce or force its interpretation… It is up to the audience to confront it, to think about it, and to decide for themselves whether or not it is worthwhile.” Even {…}

Sep 8, 2024

Francesca Aspromonte, Deborah Cachet, Siobhan Stagg & Mauro Borgioni Headline ’48 Days Of Early Music In Herne’

(Photo credits: Ribaltaluce Studio & Laurus Design) The lineup for “48 Days Of Early Music In Herne” has been announced. For the purposes of this article only vocal works are included. This year’s theme is “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle.” Soprano Deborah Cachet and mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland perform “Passgenau,” with the B’Rock Orchestra conducted by Cecilia Bernardini. Performance Date: {…}

Apr 18, 2024

Teatro Comunale di Ferrara 2024 Review: Orlando Furioso

Photo credit: Marco Caselli Nirmal Vivaldi’s “Orlando Furioso” is a work that represents baroque opera at its most exciting. Set on Alcina’s magical island, where the weird and wonderful are commonplace, it opens up the possibility for colorful and spectacular stagings with shipwrecks, fantastical beasts, monsters and statues that come to life. There are high mountains, wooded groves, steep cliffs {…}

Jan 31, 2024

Ravenna 2024 Review: L’Incoronazione di Poppea

(Photo: Studio B12 di Gianpaolo Guarneri) The duet “Pur ti miro, pur ti godo,” which brought Teatro Aligheri’s presentation of “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” to its conclusion, was rightly met with enthusiastic applause from the audience. The sensitivity, emotional depth and detail that countertenor Federico Fiorio and soprano Roberta Mameli were able to bring to their singing was breathtaking. Their voices {…}

Jan 10, 2022

Teatro Comunale di Ferrara 2021-22 Review: Farnace

(Photo: Marco Caselli) In 1739 Vivaldi complained in a letter to his patron Marquis Guido Bentivoglio about the treatment he had suffered from the directors of Ferrara’s Teatro Bonacossi: “My reputation has been scourged…to the extent they are refusing as a second opera ‘Farnace,’ which I have prepared afresh especially for the company according to written agreements… I will not {…}