(Credit: Jiyang Chen / Marco Borggreve) The Semperoper Dresden has announced its 2020-21 season featuring seven new operatic productions and a number of revivals. Here is a look at the operatic productions. Premieres The first new production of the season will be Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell,” written by de Jouy and Bis. The new production by Georg Schmiedleitner will star Christoph {…}
(Credit: Ryan Donnell) Opera Philadelphia has announced its 2020-21 season with the theme Fortune & Might. O20 Festival Jennifer Higdon and Jerre Dye’s “Woman with Eyes Closed” makes its world premiere opening the Opera Philadelphia’s festival. German director Christian Räth helms the production which is set to star Meredith Arwady, Kevin Ray, Fleur Barron, and Wei Wu Performance Dates: Sept. {…}
The International Opera Awards have announced the nominees for its 2020 Awards. The annual event, which celebrates achievement in opera around the globe over the 2019 calendar year, recognizes excellence in a wide range of categories that cover performance, design and direction, as well as education and outreach. This year, two opera companies topped the 2020 nominees with three a {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced a cast change for Donizetti’s “La Favorite.” The company revealed that Michael Spyres will sing the role of Fernand replacing Lawrence Brownlee. The performance will mark Spyres’ debut at the Houston Grand Opera. Spyres is set to also make his Metropolitan Opera debut in “La Damnation de Faust” this month alongside Elina Garanca and {…}
(Credit: Julien Benhamou) Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 2009. While recognized as one of the great works by its composer, it has not been a fixture at the Met by any stretch of the imagination. While it had its company premiere all the way back in 1896, it has only {…}
(Credit: Theater an der Wien/Opera de Monte Carlo) This weekend is filled with rarities and curiosities. And those burning for repertory staples will also be obliged as some of the great opera stars of today are taking on iconic operas. Here is a look at what we reccommend. La Vestale – Theater an der Wien, Vienna Elza Van Den Heever {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2020 season celebrating its 100th anniversary with a number of operatic productions from many repertory staples and numerous rarely performed gems. Here is a look at the operatic works to be performed. Opera Franz Welser-Möst is set to conduct a new production of R. Strauss’ “Elektra” with Krzysztof Warlikowski. Aušrine Stundyte sings the title {…}
This week, two requiems are set for release in addition to two solo albums from prominent artists. Here is a look at what we recommend. Berlioz’s Requiem Erato is releasing a performance of Hector Berlioz’s Requiem – The Grande Messe des Morts. The recording comes from a performance that took place on March 8, 2019, the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death. The {…}
This week, a slew of rarely performed works are set for release, including live recordings and some world premieres. La Nonne Sanglante Gounod’s rarely performed work gets a release from the Opera Comique. The new release, by Naxos, stars Vannina Santoni, Marion Lebègue, and Michael Spyres. Laurence Equilbey conducts the Insula Orchestra in David Bobee’s production from 2018. Jane Eyre Louis Karchin’s {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” will be performed in a concert version instead of in Robert Lepage’s acclaimed production. The company announced that “The decision to present ‘La Damnation de Faust’ in its more usual concert version is driven by the unanticipated technical demands of reviving the Met’s staged production, which proved to be {…}
The Amigos de la Opera de la Coruña has announced its 2019 season with a series of recitals and opera performances. Operas Carlos Saura directs a new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” with Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez conducting the Sinfónica de Galicia. Juan Jesús Rodríguez sings the title role with Gilda Fiume (Donna Anna), Ginger Costa-Jackson (Donna Elvira), Simón Orfila {…}