It was a tumultuous week on social media with Fake News influencing the interaction between opera stars and their fans. The Metropolitan Opera made sure to celebrate the birthday of iconic composer Giuseppe Verdi. 🎈🎉🎂Happy birthday, Giuseppe Verdi! The Italian composer, born on this day in 1813, is one of the most prolific and influential composers in the operatic canon. What’s {…}
Leona Mitchell had a tremendous opera career. For years, the soprano, born on Oct. 13, 1949, was a leading singer at the Metropolitan Opera, dominating in such operas as “La Bohème,” “Carmen,” “Don Carlo,” “Die Zauberflöte,” and “La Forza del Destino,” among others. Her first-ever “Madama Butterfly” at the Met was proclaimed “a wedding of her beautiful, lyric voice to {…}
As we get deeper and deeper into the fall season, opera lovers are finding themselves with more and more options around the United States. Here is a look at the offerings for this second weekend of the month. First off, let’s kick off with the major openings. On Saturday, Los Angeles Opera opens its production of “Nabucco (the company also {…}
One had to wonder, in the near full-house at a Columbus Day performance of the Metropolitan Opera’s venerable “La Bohème,” how many in the audience didn’t get to Paris this summer. Or perhaps ever? And how perfect to see this “La Bohème” on an unseasonably warm, humid night — that indeed cried out for a café table outside, to watch {…}
Anna Netrebko is set to star in three new co-productions at the Metroplitan Opera and the Bolshoi. In their first co-production collaboration ever, the Bolshoi and the Met have announced plans to create new productions of “Aida,” “Salome” and “Lohengrin,” with performances to set to take place in New York and Moscow between 2019 and 2022. The two companies will {…}
Puccini’s “Turandot” is an operatic fixture and one would expect that the work, so popular at the Metropolitan Opera thanks to Franco Zeffirelli’s famed production, would have been around the house for as long as one can remember. And yet the opera experienced a long hiatus of 30 years before regaining its foothold at the Met. Along the way, some {…}
“To see the elephants. The lights. The action. I was sold. I didn’t understand why I had to go to school because I knew what I wanted right away. I thought it was the most amazing magical night ever.” That was mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught’s description of her first ever experience at the Arena di Verona as a 13-year-old. The Dundalk, {…}
The busy weekend in the US continues throughout with a number of companies continuing previously unveiled productions. Before we look at continued runs, let’s look at some of the first-timers this weekend. Among those is LA Opera’s production of “The Pearl Fishers,” which opens on Saturday with a cast that includes Nino Machaidze, Javier Camarena, and Alfredo Daza. Over in {…}
Decca Classics has announced “Der Rosenkavalier” from the Metropolitan Opera. The historical performance features Renée Fleming’s farewell to her signature role as the Marschallin and Elīna Garanča’s final performance in a pants role. The cast also includes Gunther Groissböck and Erin Morley in Robert Carsen’s new prosuction. Regarding Fleming’s performance, OperaWire noted, “Her overall interpretation of the character was to depict the Marschallin {…}
For years, tenor Russell Thomas has developed into one of the rising stars of the opera world, his incredible lyricism and potent dramatic voice making him a fixture for some of the greatest operas. He has dominated in Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini alike at the greatest opera houses around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper {…}
The Metropolitan Opera’s famed Live in HD series kicks off this weekend with a broadcast performance of Bellini’s “Norma.” The performance, which takes place on Oct. 7, 2017, will feature Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role with Joseph Calleja as Pollione, Joyce DiDonato as Adalgisa, and Matthew Rose as Oroveso. The production is directed by Sir David McVicar. Carlo Rizzi {…}