The Metropolitan Opera has announced a cast change for its production of Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The company noted that Joseph Calleja will not perform the role of Rodolfo on Jan. 4, 8, and 13, 2024. In his stead, Stephen Costello will sing the role, which he has already performed this season. This season Costello is set to perform with the {…}
Peter Gelb has admitted to removing Anita Rachvelishvili from Met Productions following a performance of “Aida” in December 2022. In a recent interview with the New York Times regarding the mezzo-soprano’s vocal struggles following her pregnancy the Met General Manager said, “It was obvious that she was not the same singer — at least temporarily not the same singer — {…}
The Spanish language is pretty preponderant in the United States of America with a recent census stating that over 42 million people in the country aged five and older speak the language at home. It’s the second most learned language following English, with over 8 million students. And yet, it took until 2023 for the Metropolitan Opera to finally, and {…}
(Credit; Evan Zimmerman) “No Opera on a Dead Planet.” In the middle of Act two of the opening night of “Tannhäuser” as Wolfram delivered his “Blick ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise,” specifically as he sang that “love is a spring to be drunk from,” an audience member started shouting from the rafters of the Met Opera auditorium. The first {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to celebrate the holiday season with its production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” The company will present the work 13 times performances between December 8–30. The English-language adaptation runs under two hours and features a production by Tony Award–winning director Julie Taymor. Patrick Furrer and Gareth Morrell share conducting duties, {…}
Wagner’s “Tannhäuser” returns to the Metropolitan Opera for eight performances. The opera will open on Nov. 30 and will be performed through Dec. 23, 2023 with a cast that includes Austrian tenor Andreas Schager, South African soprano Elza van den Heever as Elisabeth, and Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Venus. The cast will be rounded out by German baritone Christian Gerhaher {…}
On Nov. 16, Ailyn Pérez will make history at the Metropolitan Opera when she headlines the first-ever Latin American Opera in the company’s history (and only the third Spanish-language opera). The soprano will sing the title role of “Florencia en el Amazonas,” making her role debut and marking her first Spanish-language opera ever. The Mexican-American soprano will also headline her {…}
(Callas greeting fans. Credit: © Archiv Lebeck.) Editor’s Note: In anticipation of the release of “The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography” on Dec. 2, 2023, OperaWire is sharing a preview. “Greatness” is a noun too frequently assigned to humans. Victims of this label view the happening of “genius” as a capricious, “limited time only” gift. Here we follow Callas on {…}
The Grammy nominations have been announced. The Best Opera Recording nominees are Blanchard’s Champion featuring Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore, and Eric Owens with David Frost as the producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus); and Corigliano’s “The Lord Of Cries” featuring Gil Rose, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott, and David Portillo with Gil {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to present Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Moby Dick” during the 2024-25 season. The Heggie work is set to arrive one season after the company performed Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s “Dead Man Walking” for its opening night of the 2023-24 season. The Met made the announcement on its website while promoting “Dead Man Walking.” “Moby {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl) The Metropolitan Opera’s 2023-24 season unfurled a tapestry of music, history, and Afrofuturistic magical realism with Broadway producer Robert O’Hara’s “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” composed by Anthony Davis, to a libretto by Thulani Davis, based on a story by Christopher Davis. The Met, traditionally a bastion of opera’s classic repertoire, transformed into a {…}