(Photo: Matthias Baus) One of the highlights, if not the highlight, of La Monnaie’s 2024–25 season must be its world premiere of Monteverdi’s new opera “I Grotteschi,” a mammoth work, lasting almost seven hours, not including intervals, performed over two evenings. Rafael R. Villalobos as Scenario, Director & Costume Designer conceived and created the production, using extracts from the Monteverdi’s {…}
Purchase College Opera is set to present Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione di Poppea” this April. There will be two casts. As Poppea, audiences will see either Zoe Brooks or Sophia Orrico. Their Nerones include Brigid Mack and James Hernandez, while the alternating Ottone interpreters include Theodore Perringtonn and Jonathan Mildner. Beyoncé Zabrano and Brigid Mack will alternate as Ottavia while Brandon Roque {…}
OperaWire met up with English soprano Charlotte Bowden between performances of Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria” and a double Purcell bill of “Hail! Bright St. Cecilia” and “Dido and Aeneas” at the Ravenna festival, in which she was essaying the roles of Melanto, a solo soprano and Belinda, respectively. Although she only recently graduated from the Royal College {…}
(Photo: Studio B12) The advertising poster for the Cremona Monteverdi Festival’s production of “L’Orfeo” included the picture “Happy Hours” by Jean Lecointre. It depicts a woman with continuous streams of tears pouring from her eyes into a glass of wine, or does it? Could it be the reverse situation? Maybe the streams are moving in the opposite direction from the {…}
(Photo: Francesca Faelutti) After hotfooting it across the city, the enthusiastic audience members from the festival’s first concert of the evening arrived at the Museo del Violino for concert number two, starring male soprano Samuel Mariño and the Concerto De’ Cavalieri, directed by Marcello di Lisa. Entitled “When Farinelli met Monteverdi,” the concert was described as an “imaginary but impossible {…}
There was plenty going on at this summer’s Monteverdi festival in Cremona. On the first Saturday evening, along with a staged production of a selection of Monteverdi’s madrigals, entitled “Polittico Monteverdiano,” visitors had the opportunity to experience two concerts, each featuring a male soprano. The performances took place at different venues, with just enough time for the keener members of {…}
The Festival International Opéra Baroque & Romantique in Beaune has announced its 2023 season. First up is “Hail, Bright Cecilia,” which features the Gabrieli Consort and Players under Paul McCreesh. Singers include Zoe Brookshaw, Mhairi Lawson, Lauren Lodge-Campbell, Tim Mead, Jeremy Budd, Matthew Long, Bob Davies, and Ashley Riches. Performance Dates: July 7, 2023 Next up is the oratorio “Theodora” {…}
The Pacific Chorale will present Monteverdi’s “Vespers of 1610” on March 4, 2023 at Our Lady Catholic Church. The showcase will be led by Robert Istad with the Bach Collegium San Diego (BCSD) as special guests. Ruben Valenzuela will accompany on the organ. Regarding Monteverdi’s “Vespers of 1610,” Istad said, “it is an extraordinary work with impressive textures, exuberant choruses, {…}
Music at Co-Cath is set to present Monteverdi’s “Vespro della Beata Vergine” on Dec. 9 and 10 in Brooklyn, NY. The showcase, celebrating the Lady of Guadalupe, “La Virgen de las Américas,” will reenact the Virgin’s appearances to Juan Diego, an Aztec. Audiences will hear short Spanish and English readings and performances from 14 singers. Soloists for the performance include {…}
(Photo: Ruth Walz) It never ceases to surprise how Monteverdi’s operas prove themselves time and again to be not just supreme examples of how the art form succeeds as a dramatic medium, able to communicate directly with present day audiences, with characters who resonate so clearly with the modern mind, even over a distance of 400 years, but also the {…}
Edmonton-based Opera Nuova has announced its upcoming performances. On July 9, the company opened a new production of “The Coronation of Poppea” in a production by Kim Mattice Wanat. The work, which is conducted by Christopher Baga, stars Alexandra Morgan and Camille Labonte in the title role with Spencer VanDellen and Rain Seran-Senavinin sharing the role of Nerone. As Ottone, {…}