(Credit: Claire McAdams / Vanessa Preziose) Most people recognize that there is a major world premiere taking place this weekend. But the reality is that there are two. The weekend is also full of appetizing offerings and this weekend’s selections come down to a mix of classics with star casts as well as a Spanish-language masterpiece that undeniably deserves greater {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver) The Pittsburgh Opera is set to kick off its 81st season with a film noir take on Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” The production, set to be conducted by Antony Walker, will be directed by Kristine McIntyre, which was first seen at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Inspired by the film noir, the production uses black and white costumes {…}
The Washington Concert Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring two operatic performances, which are set to be performed at Lisner Auditorium. The season opens with Thomas’ rarely performed work “Hamlet” featuring acclaimed soprano Lisette Oropesa, Jacques Imbrailo, Eve Gigliotti, and Jonas Hacker. Performance Date: Nov. 24, 2019. The second opera of the season is set to be Verdi’s “Simon {…}
Pittsburgh Opera has announced its 2019-20 season! This will be the company’s 81st season and will encompass four operas produced at the Benedum Center, a Baroque chamber opera at Pittsburgh CAPA School Theater, and a production by the Second Stage Project at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters, as well as a multitude of other events. The season opens with a period production {…}
It’s amazing what a ripping good yarn enhanced by instantly recognizable themes can do for an audience. American composer Jake Heggie’s opera, “Moby Dick,” now being performed by the Pittsburgh Opera, is in many ways a return to that fundamental principle for operatic success: create characters audiences care about, and endow them with memorable motifs to better manipulate the viewers’ {…}
The Pittsburgh Opera will presents Jake Heggie’s acclaimed “Moby-Dick” for the first time. As part of the company’s initiative to bring new, American operas, the Pittsburgh Opera will showcase the work in March. Based on the famous novel of the same name by Herman Melville, the opera will be showcased in a co-production with the Utah Opera. OperaWire’s review noted, “Jake Heggie’s {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced its 2018-19 season, which is set to include five classic operas and numerous international stars. The season kicks off on Oct. 12, 2018 with Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” starring Greer Grimsley in the title role, Anja Kampe in her Dallas debut, and Jay Hunter Morris. Music director Emmanuel Villaume conducts. Performance Date: Oct. 12-20 (4 {…}
From South Africa to America. Between those two countries is a vast ocean and traversing from the former to the latter presents a number of major challenges, not only physical, but emotional and economic. Opera is rife with characters battling the ocean on their way to success or tragedy. Just to name a few are the characters in Jake Heggie’s {…}
Sopranos dead by the final curtain are a dime a dozen; murderous sopranos are rarer; sopranos who slay murderous roles scarcer still. As “Tosca,” in the Canadian Opera Company’s revival of Puccini’s beloved work which opened on April 30th, Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka died, murdered, and slayed, not necessarily in that order. A Triumphant Diva Her death should have been {…}
In our first article on black history month we took a look at the opera stars making their mark in the biggest of ways, the singing actors taking headlines at the biggest houses in the world. As we continue to celebrate black history month OperaWire will recognize other black singers making waves in the opera world, many of them rising {…}