Mozart’s operas feature some of the most nuanced, human-like characters in all of the operatic repertory. And if his characters were real humans living and breathing today, in the year 2018, chances are they’d have a smartphone attached to the palm of their hand, filled with apps that they’d use to navigate the twenty-first-century world around them. From Snapchat to {…}
Guido Loconsolo is one today’s leading bass-baritones singing all over the world in every major opera house. His career has seen him perform many leading roles from Baroque composers, Verdi, Puccini, and Mozart, a composer he specializes in and wants to continue singing. This week he makes his Florida debut performing at Opera Naples under the direction of Ramon Tebar. {…}
Is “Le Nozze di Figaro” the greatest opera of all time? A fair share of artists certainly uphold this belief of the Mozart and Da Ponte work, which premiered on May 1, 1786. And why not? The work features one glorious piece of music after another in a complex plot featuring some of opera’s most iconic characters. Throw in Mozart’s {…}
On May 23, 2018, St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral will be the venue where Divaria Productions showcases their new work “Don Giovanni in New York,” which follows the historical events preceding the American premiere of Mozart’s classic work 192 years ago. The work, presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, has an original script that weaves together {…}
Soprano Julie Fuchs has announced on her Facebook page that she will no longer be performing in Staatsoper Hamburg’s upcoming production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote.” “Today, I have an unexpected announcement to make,” writes Fuchs. “The Staatsoper Hamburg has unfortunately informed me just this week that the artistic integrity of the Jette Steckel production of ‘Die Zauberflöte’ cannot be maintained {…}
Italian soprano Barbara Frittoli was born on April 19, 1967, and carved out a solid career in the Italian repertoire. Frittoli, a Milan native, went on graduate from the famed conservatory in her city. Unsurprisingly, she would have a solid career at the famed Teatro alla Scala, where she worked extensively with Riccardo Muti in such operas as “Falstaff,” “Otello,” {…}
Filmmaker Milos Forman has passed away. The director, from the Czech Republic, died at the age of 86 according to his representatives Dennis Aspland. Forman, while not an opera director, was most famous for having directed “Amadeus,” the biopic of Mozart’s life which went on to win eight Academy Awards and numerous BAFTA and Golden Globes. The film saw numerous {…}
The Music Academy of the West has announced its 71st season which is set for June 11, 2018. The festival will run through August 11, 2018, and will star some of the greatest artists in the world of opera and classical music. As has been the case for these season announcements, the focus will be solely on opera and vocal {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment we will take a {…}
Spring has sprung and special opera performances are launching at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM), while catering to an opera-in-brief community outreach program that takes the audience on a quick but enlightening journey through a specific opera. Back in 2010, MSM partnered with Anthony Amato, an avid maestro, producer, educator, and nonprofit entrepreneur, in order to create a concept {…}
On April 9, 2018, audiences will gather at London’s Coliseum for the International Opera Awards to honor those who come from across the globe to make opera what it is today. Among them will be Armenia soprano Anush Hovhannisyan, who is coming off a massive success in 2017 when she was among the contestants for the BBC Cardiff Singer of {…}