(Credit: Staatsoper unter der Linden Facebook page) The Staatsoper unter der Linden in Berlin has announced changes to its 2020-21 season. The productions of Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” and Britten’s “The Turn of The Screw” have been canceled, per an official press release. Instead, the opera house will offer three presentations of the gala concert “Viva Verdi!,” on Oct. 4, {…}
(Credit: Chris Singer) Only seven days before the COVID-19 pandemic fell on our heads, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato was in New York portraying the role of Agrippina at the Metropolitan Opera House. Taking on the role of the cunning queen, DiDonato already had been in the eye of the storm. At that moment very few people really understood well what {…}
(Credit: Christopher Pledger/ Shirley Suarez / English National Opera official website / Gerard Collett) The English National Opera has announced that it will reopen the London Coliseum on Nov. 6 & 7, 2020, for the two special performances of Mozart’s “Requiem.” The performances will star mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, tenor Toby Spence, and bass Brindley Sherratt. The {…}
(Photo Credit: Lizelle de Wit) The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact for many opera singers and companies all over the world. Not only were performances canceled left and right, but there were concerns over when and how singers might be able to get back on the operatic stage. As the months passed by, we saw online performances, socially distanced {…}
(Credits: Rosetta Greek / Lena Kern) The Glyndebourne Festival has announced a full program of the series of socially-distanced indoor performances that will take place in Sussex, starting October 10, 2020. The Festival has announced that it will deploy a set of stringent COVID-19 safety rules, including strict social distancing, using uncirculated air to heat the auditorium, providing sanitizing stations {…}
(Credit: Julien Pohl) Belgian conductor Patrick Davin has died at the age of 58 on September 9, 2020, after suffering a heart attack before one of the rehearsals of the Jean-Luc Fafchamps’ pop-requiem “Is This the End?” at La Monnaie Opera House in Brussels. The former student of Pierre Boulez and Peter Eötvös, Davin was frequently invited to perform works {…}
(Credit: Yasuko Kageyama / Opera di Roma) The Orchestre Classique de Montréal has announced that baritone Phillip Addis will replace Dominique Côté in the presentation of Kaminsky, Reed and Campbell’s opera “As One.” Addis will be joined onstage by the mezzo-soprano Sarah Bissonnette. Performances will take place on November 20 & 21, 2020, at the Cirque Éloize in Montreal. “We {…}
(Credits: Peter Knutson / Vicor Santiago / Andrey Uspensky) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced changes to its October 2020 schedule. The performances of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” slated for October 2, 2020; “Così fan tutte” scheduled for October 20 & 25, 2020; Verdi’s “La Traviata” scheduled for Oct. 10, 2020; Bizet’s “Carmen” slated for Oct. 16, 21 & 24, 2020; {…}
(Credit: Oberon’s Grove) French coloratura soprano Christiane Eda-Pierre has died at the age of 88. Eda-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique. She came to France to finish her studies at Conservatoire de Paris and in 1957, she made her professional debut in the role of Leïla in Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles.” She went on to perform at {…}
(Credit: Opera Națională București Facebook Page) Opera Națională București has canceled its upcoming performances that were scheduled from Sept. 5 to 13, 2020. The Opera House initially stated that it canceled the performances “for objective reasons,” without further details. All the performances will be rescheduled for a later date. The Opera Națională București has confirmed that ten of its employees {…}
(Credits: Seattle Symphony official website / College of Fine Arts, University of Kentucky official website) American-Canadian tenor Zach Finkelstein has announced the release of his third album. The recording will be produced in a collaboration with the famed guitarist Dieter Hennings Yeoman and is slated for release in fall of 2021. Composers Felix Jarrar, Kamala Sankaram, Rene Orth, Daniel Pesca, {…}