(Photo credit: Keith Saunders) This winter season at Sydney Opera House has seen Opera Australia once again revive Sir David McVicar’s 2015 production of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” restaged by Andy Morton previously, as recently as 2022. OperaWire has pertinently noted the repeat of “tried and true” in Opera Australia’s 2025 season in a recent review of “Rusalka” (itself not {…}
(Image Source: IMG Artists) When Bass Baritone Michael Sumuel landed in San Francisco after finishing his run as Porgy in the Washington National Opera’s “Porgy and Bess,” he realized he’d only been home about 15 days the entire year. He was in town for a couple weeks before he flew to Sydney where he’ll sing the title role in “Le {…}
(Credit: Deutsche Oper) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Detlev Glanert ‘s “Die drei Rätsel” will be conducted by Dominic Limburg and directed by Brigitte Dethier. The production will star Martina Baroni, Philipp Jekal, Chance Jonas-O’Toole, Joel Allison, Padraic Rowan, Maria Vasilevskaya, and Alexandra Oomens. Performance Dates: Oct. 11, 2025-Feb. 15, 2026 Sir Donald Runnicles will {…}
The Metropolitan Opera revived “Le Nozze di Figaro” for the 2024-25 season. I’ve seen this Richard Eyre production countless times and it’s always a breath of air to see how different casts can take the same directions, but breathe new life into them. And this cast was no different. When I reviewed the opera in 2021-22, I remarked how different {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive “Le Nozze di Figaro” for 13 performances. The opera will be conducted by Joana Mallwitz, who makes her company debut and will showcase Richard Eyre’s production. There will be two casts for the work, the first of which showcases Federica Lombardi, Olga Kulchynska, Sun-Ly Pierce, Joshua Hopkins, and Michael Sumel. The second cast {…}
The San Diego Symphony has announced its 2025-26 season. In a statement, Martha Gilmer, President and CEO of the San Diego Symphony said, “Now that we have been able to experience the wonderful acoustic of our renovated Jacobs Music Center, it was a great joy to imagine our second season in this marvelous hall. In what was the Fox Movie Theatre, a {…}
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the vocal performances. Nicholas Kraemer conducts a program that includes the music of Händel, Beethoven, and Mozart. Soloists include Amanda Forsythe, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Josh Lovell, and Michael Sumuel. Performance Dates: Oct. 17-19, 2024 Fabien Gabel and Konstantin Krimmel team up for a program of music by Britten, Mahler, {…}
The Detroit Opera has announced its 2023-24 season featuring a wide array of repertory. Matthew Ozawa directs a new production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” with Kensho Watanabe conducting. Karah Son sings the title role alongside Eric Taylor, Kristen Choi, and Nmon Ford Performance Dates: Oct. 7-15, 2023 The company is set to present the site-specific operatic experience composer John Cage’s “Europeras {…}
The Pittsburgh Opera is set to present “The Marriage of Figaro” in a revival production. The opera, which is set to take the stage between Nov. 5 and 13, will star Natasha Te Rupe Wilson, Michael Sumuel, Nicole Cabell, Jarrett Ott, Ricardo Lugo, Daniel O’Hearn, and Jazmine Olwalia. Antony Walker conducts the revival production by Stephanie Havey, which is jointly owned {…}
The Washington Concert Opera has unveiled its lineup for the fall Gala. The performance, which is set for Oct. 12, 2022, at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., will star soprano Tamara Wilson and bass-baritone Michael Sumuel. Wilson is an internationally renowned soprano who has appeared with a number of major companies including the Canadian Opera Company, the English National {…}
(Disclosure: Out of respect for the sensitivity of our audience we will only link to images of blackface instead of showing them here) Following a performance of “Aida” at the Arena di Verona on July 8, several opera singers are calling out Anna Netrebko for the use of blackface. Jamie Barton took to Twitter and said, “It’s been a long {…}