Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, a diva says goodbye to classical music, while there are several rare operas and oratorios. Here are this week’s new releases. Dog Days / Thumbprint Bright Shiny Things reissues two operas that have been out of print for nearly two years: {…}
The Théâtre du Châtelet has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. “L’Annonce faite à Marie” by Philippe Leroux will be conducted by Ariane Matiakh and will be directed by Célie Pauthe. The cast will include Raphaële Kennedy, Sophia Burgos, Els Janssens, Marc Scoffoni, Charles Rice, and Vincent Bouchot. Performance Date: Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2026 Julie Hega, Raquel Camarinha, René Ramos {…}
Les Musicales de la Route Cézanne has announced its 2025 lineup, which will take place between July 21 and 28, 2025. Here is a rundown of the vocal events on offer. Natalie Dessay and pianist Shani Diulka and chanteur d’oiseaux Johnny Rase present works by Grieg, Ravel, Debussy, Berg, and bird songs at the Parc du Château du Tholonet. Performance {…}
The Opéra de Massy has announced its 2025-26 season. Héloïse Poulet, Juliette Mey, and Matthieu Walendzick will perform in recital with Rodolphe Lospied. The program includes music by Mozart and Poulenc. Performance Date: Oct. 14, 2025 Bach Stagioni will be conducted by David Stern and soloists Thaïs Raï-Westphal, Lucas Pauchet, and Julien Ségol. Performance Date: Oct. 16, 2025 Bizet’s “Les {…}
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera Productions Jakob Lehmann conducts Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” in a production by Silvia Costa. Benjamin Bernheim, Viktoria Karkacheva, Christian Van Horn, and Thomas Dolié star. Performance Dates: Nov. 3-15, 2025 Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoé” will be conducted by Marc Minkowski and directed by Laurent Pelly. Lawrence Brownlee, Julie Fuchs, Laurent {…}
Following the French elections, 500 French Classical Musical personalities signed a manifesto against the far right that won the first round of the National Assembly elections. Published in Télérama, the artists said, “Faced with the historical situation of our country following the dissolution of the National Assembly by Emmanuel Macron on June 9, we, artisans and actors in the world {…}
The Opéra national de Lorraine has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with “Heroine” featuring three major works. The evening begins with Hindemith’s “Sancta Susanna” followed by Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and will conclude with Honegger’s “Danse des morts.” Anthony Almeida directs the three works. Hindemith’s opera will star Anaïk Morel, Rosie Aldridge, Apolline Rai-Westphal, Yannis François, and Soloist of the Opera Chorus while {…}
The Opéra de Massy has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Thomas’ “Hamlet” opens the season with conductor Hervé Niquet and director Frank Van Laecke. Armando Noguera, Florie Valiquette, Patrick Bolleire, Ahlima Mhamdi, Kaelig Boché, and Yoann Le Lan star. Performance Dates: Nov. 15 & 17, 2024 “Solomon: a serenata de William Boyce” will {…}
The Opéra national du Rhin has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the opera performances. George Benjamin’s “Picture a day like this” opens the season. Performance Dates: Oct. 3-20, 2024 Jakub Józef Orlinski and Michał Biel will perform Purcell, Haendel, Schubert, Baird, and Łukaszewski. Performance Date: Sept. 19, 2024 Alex Rosen, Emöke Baráth, Adèle Charvet, Laurence Kilsby, Lauranne Oliva, Christophe {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Verdi’s “Falstaff” opens the season with a cast that includes Ambrogio Maestri, Olivia Boen, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Andrei Kymach, Gregory Bonfatti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and Federica Guida. Michael Schønwandt conducts the production by Dominique Pitoiset. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-30, 2024 Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will star Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude {…}
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has announced its 2024-25 season. Here are the vocal performances. Opera in Production Bach’s “Passion selon Saint” will be conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón and directed by Sasha Waltz. The cast will include Sophie Junker, Georg Nigl, Christian Immler, Benno Schachtner, Valerio Contaldo, and Mark Milhofer. Performance Dates: Nov. 4 & 5, 2024 Poulenc’s “Dialogues des {…}