Kiri Te Kanawa is arguably the most renowned artist to come out of New Zealand in the opera world. Born on March 6, 1944, the soprano was born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron but was adopted as an infant by Thomas Te Kanawa and his wife Nell. In her teens and early 20s, she worked as a pop star and entertainer {…}
When I interviewed Josh Shaw, Founding Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Project, back in December, I observed that Los Angeles’s Pacific Opera Theater or POP for short, is kind of “guerilla theater.” By that I didn’t mean that POP is experimental in its choice of repertoire but that it takes opera anywhere and – theoretically – everywhere by any means. {…}
Orchestra of St. Luke’s second performance of the 2018-19 Carnegie Hall Series was led by Principal Conductor Bernard Labadie which featured Jonathan Biss as a guest artist performing Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19” and soprano Ying Fang also as a guest artist, performing Mozart’s aria “Non temer, amato bene, K.490” from “Idomeneo.” The evening began {…}
For the third year in a row, the gardens of the Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Italy, will be home to a late summer celebration like no other – The New Generation Festival. Its co-founders Maximilian Fane, Roger Granville, and Frankie Parham, describes the festival’s purpose as “to kindle the infinite potential of the human spirit, championing emerging talent across artistic {…}
Like a prank fallen flat, Jan Philipp Gloger’s 2016 production of “Così fan tutte” is loaded with unfunny clichés the audience always sees coming. Boasting cardboard imitations of forests, a doctor’s costume making its Despina look like Jesus Christ, huge placards with classic fonts spelling out the Italian words “fedeltà,” “amore” and others, some parts are embarrassing to watch. With {…}
Following on from its production of “Il Sogno di Scipione,” Venice’s La Fenice staged another Mozart rarity, “Il Re Pastore.” Although being a more mature work, the two operas share many characteristics; both were set to a libretto by Metastasio, written for sopranos and tenor voices (although in the latter work the role of Aminta was written for a castrato, {…}
On Feb. 22, 2019, audiences around the world will get a chance to experience Mozart’s “Idomeneo” live from the Vienna State Opera via the company’s official live stream service. This particular performance is set to star Bernard Richter, Rachel Frenkel, Irina Lungu, and Valentina Nafornita. Tomas Netopil conducts the production by Kasper Holten. The stream kicks off at 7 p.m. {…}
The Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg hosts Mozart Week annually on or around Mozart’s birthday (Jan. 27) in celebration of the composer’s contributions to the world of music. The lineup for Mozart Week 2020, which will be held Jan. 23 – Feb. 2, has been announced. For the purposes of this article, we will highlight vocal performances and anything else opera-related. The {…}
Originally “Il Sogno di Scipione” was written as a celebratory work for the Archbishop Schrattenbach of Salzburg in 1771, who was unfortunate enough to die before its first performance. Mozart, therefore, took the opportunity to add a new extended final aria and rededicate the work to his successor, Hieronymus Colloredo, which was then performed at his investiture the following year. {…}
Amore Opera will continue its 2018-19 season with a rare Meyerbeer opera and a classic Mozart opera at the Riverside Theatre in Riverside Church on Claremont Ave in New York, NY. The company will present four performances, directed by Nathan Hull, of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s long-forgotten comedy “Dinorah,” with the original French libretto. The opera was last fully-staged at the Metropolitan Opera {…}
There is a lot more standard repertory this weekend on offer around the United States. So here is a look at the performances to check out (in alphabetical order by company). Così Fan Tutte – Canadian Opera Company Mozart and Da Ponte’s opera will get a performance on Feb. 9 and will feature a cast that includes Kirsten McKinnon, Emily {…}