Q & A: Conductor Daniela Candillari Discusses Her Met Debut Conducting ‘Eurydice’ and Her Approach to Score Study

(Photo credit: Damjan Svarc) Conductor Daniela Candillari makes her Met Opera podium debut on Wednesday, December 8th, pacing Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Eurydice.’ OperaWire connects with Candillari to discuss her creative process leading up to ‘Eurydice’ and how she constructs her perspective. OperaWire: What moments in Aucoin’s work do you enjoy most and how do they resonate with you? Daniela {…}

Jun 22, 2021

PBS Announces Broadcast Schedule for Joyce DiDonato’s Met Stars Live in Concert Showcase

PBS has announced that it will start broadcasting Joyce DiDonato’s concert from the Met Opera in 2020 starting on July 2, 2021. The showcase saw the famed mezzo perform live from Bochum, Germany where she presented music by Händel, Monteverdi, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, among others. DiDonato was accompanied by Carrie-Ann Matheson at the piano as well as Il Pomo d’Oro. {…}

Feb 23, 2021

Wagner Society of New York Makes Gift to Met Orchestra Musicians Fund

The Wagner Society of New York has donated $5,000 to the Met Orchestra Musicians Fund. The contribution aims to help more than 150 musicians who have not received their salary since April 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The donation was made in the memory of Katherine Gill, a New Yorker who was a longtime WSNY vice president {…}

Feb 12, 2021

Criticism on Fridays: Empowering Each Other

Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. “Real music is right in the heart of what we struggle. Our task is not to be a leisure activity, but to go the places where no political {…}

Feb 4, 2021

Met Orchestra & Met General Manager Peter Gelb Remain at Standstill After Offers Rejected or Ignored on Both Sides

The standoff between the Metropolitan Opera and its Met Opera orchestra has escalated into a war of words with a recent set of leaked emails revealing the open hostility between the two parties. Slipped Disc recently leaked an email sent by the Met Opera general manager Peter Gelb to the members of the orchestra and a corresponding response from the {…}

Jan 5, 2021

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus Announce Fundraiser with Yannick Nezet-Seguin & Pierre Tourville

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus have announced a new fundraising campaign. In a statement the orchestra and chorus said, “we are pleased to begin with a special fundraising matching campaign, to support our community of artists in these unprecedented times. Thanks to a generous contribution from Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and his life partner Pierre Tourville, any donations from {…}

Dec 14, 2020

Best of 2020: OperaWire’s Top 11 Industry-Defining Moments of the Year

This calendar year has been a difficult one for the world and for the music industry. It tested artists in ways they never thought they would. And yet it also showed resilience, love, and humility. It was a year where generosity was predominant and where artists united for a better cause. Usually, at this point in time, OperaWire has a {…}

Nov 17, 2020

MET Orchestra Musicians to Premiere Spotlight Series

On Nov. 22, 2020, the MET Orchestra Musicians will present the premiere concert of its Spotlight Series. The opening showcase is set to include the beloved opera aria “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s “Turandot” arranged for four horns; Tchaikovsky’s tour de force for string sextet “Souvenir de Florence;” and the genre-bending string quartet Strum by one of the hottest young composers {…}

Aug 15, 2020

Met Chorus Artists Raise Over $500,000 to Support 300 Artists

The Met Chorus Artists, Inc. has announced that it was able to raise over $500,000 in donations as part of its fundraising campaign to support artists who were affected by the Met Opera’s closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, over 300 artists were able to receive $1,668 of support. “Our success is a testament not {…}

Aug 2, 2020

Metropolitan Opera Stars Live in Concert Review: Renée Fleming in Washington D.C.

As Renée Fleming, “America’s Diva,” introduced the third to last piece in a program that ranged from Handel to Cantaloube to Harold Arlen, the beloved singer sighed deeply. It was a testament to the magic and beauty she had spun singing one of the standout numbers of her concert, “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi.” She sang the {…}

Mar 15, 2020

Renaissance Woman – Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, On Bringing Cultures Together Through Music

It was the afternoon following the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of “Der Fliegende Holländer,” that I met a glowing Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo, the founder of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and the Abu Dhabi Festival. The Abu Dhabi Festival was one of four organizations co-producing the Met’s “Dutchman,” the other three being the Metropolitan Opera, L’Opéra de Québec, {…}

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