Classical Pride has announced its five-day festival for Pride 2024. Tenor Nicky Spence and “RuPaul’s Drag Race’s” Monet X Change and Thorgy Thor, among other queens, kick off the celebration with “Classical Drag.” This crossover event features drag performances of arias from “Carmen,” “Turandot,” “Tosca,” and more. Following this, the Fourth Choir, conducted by Nicholas Chalmers presents works by Benjamin {…}
The English National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Puccini’s “La Bohème” opens the season with a cast that includes Nadine Benjamin, Joshua Blue, Charles Rice, Vuvu Mpofu, Patrick Alexander Keefe, and Dingle Yandell. Clelia Cafiero conducts. Performance Dates: Sept. 26-Oct. 19, 2024 Sinead Campbell-Wallace and Christine Rice star in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica.” Corinna Niemeyer conducts the production by Annilese Miskimmon. Performance Date: {…}
The Glyndebourne Festival has announced its 2025 season. New Productions The season will see the company’s first-ever production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” directed by Jetske Mijnssen. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra with a cast that includes Daniel Johansson as Parsifal and mezzo-soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Kundry. Performance Dates: May 17 – June 24, 2025 Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will experience numerous debut albums, a few complete operas, and some special choral works. Here is a look at the new releases. Orfeo ed Euridice Erato releases Jakub Józef Orliński’s interpretation of Gluck’s masterpiece. Recorded in Orliński’s native city, Warsaw, {…}
(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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}