Jamie Barton, Mary Bevan, & Dame Sarah Connolly Star in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-25 Season

(Photo credit: Thalhammer & Pledger) The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced its lineup for the 2024-25 season. This article only features vocal works. Soprano Mary Bevan opens the season with a program of works by Schubert. Edward Gardner conducts. Performance Date: July 17, 2024 Soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Nicky Spence, and baritone Jonathan Lemalu serves {…}

Apr 30, 2024

Pretty Yende, Sonya Yoncheva, Juan Diego Flórez, Allan Clayton, Lise Davidsen, & Lisette Oropesa Lead Royal Opera House’s 2024-25 Season

The Royal Opera House has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the season. Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” will open the season with a cast that includes Luca Micheletti, Ying Fang, Huw Montague Rendall, Jacquelyn Stucker, and Ginger Costa-Jackson. Performance Dates: Sept. 2-15, 2024 Verdi’s “La Traviata” will feature two casts. The first cast will be headlined {…}

Apr 20, 2024

Sasha Cooke, Ingela Brimberg, Mark S. Doss & Eve-Maud Hubeaux Lead La Monnaie de Munt’s 2024-25 Season

La Monnaie de Munt has announced the 2024-25 season. Opera Wagner’s “Siegfried” will star Magnus Vigilius, Peter Hoare, Gábor Bretz, Scott Hendricks, Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Ingela Brimberg, Nora Gubisch, and Liv Redpath. Alain Altinoglu conducts Pierre Audi’s production. Performance Dates: Sept. 11-Oct. 4, 2024 Kris Defoort’s “The Time of Our Singing ” will star Mark S. Doss, Claron Mcfadden, Simon Bailey, Levy {…}

Apr 4, 2024

Jakub Józef Orliński, Alice Coote, Malin Byström, Dame Sarah Connolly & Anne Sofie von Otter Lead Wigmore Hall’s 2024-25 Season

Wigmore Hall has announced its 2024-25 season from September to December. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Jakub Józef Orliński and il Pomo d’Oro open the season with Beyoind. Performance Date: Sept. 12, 2024 Véronique Gens, Fleur Barron, Laurence Kilsby, Stéphane Degout, Susan Manoff, and Julius Drake perform a Faure song gala. Performance Date: Sept. 13, 2024 Laurence {…}

Mar 22, 2024

Opéra National de Paris Review 2024: The Exterminating Angel

Photo credit: Agathe Poupeney-OnP Thomas Adès’s “The Exterminating Angel” is one of the most successful contemporary operas of the century. Beyond its many productions—the Parisian one being the best of them all—, the opera quickly entered the symphonic repertoire with a very well-crafted symphonic suite. The opera, based on Luís Buñuel’s homonymous film, follows its source material: more than a {…}

Mar 8, 2024

Nicky Spence & Lotte Betts-Dean Named Royal Philharmonic Society Awards Recipients

The Royal Philharmonic Society Awards winners were announced at the Royal Northern College of Music on March 5. For the purposes of this article only opera related winners are included. Taking home the Conductor Prize is François-Xavier Roth. Meanwhile the Ensemble Award went to the BBC Singers. Kaija Saariaho‘s “Innocence” took home the Large-Scale Composition award while Contemporary Music Festival’s {…}

Feb 6, 2024

Welsh National Opera Announces 2024-25 Season

The Welsh National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Verdi’s “Rigoletto” is set to be conducted by Pietro Rizzo and directed by Adele Thomas. Leonardo Capalbo, Daniel Luis de Vicente, Soraya Mafi, and Natalia Kutateladze star. Performance Dates: Sept. 21, 2024-Feb. 22, 2025 Puccini’s “Il Trittico“ returns to the stage. “Il Tabarro” will star Aluda Todua, Natalya Romaniw, and Andrés {…}

Jan 31, 2024

Royal Philharmonic Society Awards Announces Shortlist

A shortlist of this year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Award recipients has been released. For the purposes of this article only opera related nominees are included. The full list can be found here. Chamber-Scale Composition Nilufar Habibian – “Az nahāyate tāriki” (“From the deep end of darkness”) Conductor Alice Farnham; Alpesh Chauhan; François-Xavier Roth Ensemble BBC Singers; Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective Impact {…}

Sep 14, 2023

Gramophone Magazine Announces 2023 Nominees

The Gramophone Magazine has announced the 2023 award nominations. For the purposes of this article, we will only highlight the opera and vocal nominees. The opera nominees are Meyerbeer’s “Robert Le Diable” with Chœur de l’Opera National de Bordeaux, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, and Marc Minkowski (Bru Zane), Puccini’s “Turandot” with the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia {…}

Jul 5, 2023

Javier Camarena, Ramón Vinay & Ian Bostridge Lead New CD/DVD Releases

This week audiences are in for a number of legendary recordings as well as two world premiere recordings. There are also some debut albums and some new works that are exciting. Archetype Lexicon Classics releases the debut album by two-time Grammy Nominated baritone Stephen Powell. Titled “Archetype,” this orchestral album, mixed by 18-time Grammy®-Winning engineer Mark Donahue and produced by {…}

Jun 21, 2023

Richard Mantle, Lucy Crowe, Nicky Spence, Ivor Bolton to Receive Major Distinctions as Part of King’s Birthday Honours

A number of major figures of the opera world have received major distinctions as part of the King’s Birthday Honours. Opera North’s general director Richard Mantle will be knighted while conductor Ivor Bolton will be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Finally, soprano Lucy Crowe and tenor Nicky Spence will be Officers of the Order of {…}