Welcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world. Audiences will get to hear a new Ring Cycle by a major American orchestra, a new recording from the National Symphony Orchestra and some world premieres. Der Ring des Nibelungen The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Fabio Luisi release a live recording of {…}
(Credit: Robert Millard) LA Opera is set to revive Giuseppe Verdi’s final masterpiece, “Falstaff.” Conducted by Music Director James Conlon and starring bass-baritone Craig Colclough in the title role, the opera will be performed between April 18 and May 10, 2026. The cast also includes soprano Nicole Heaston as Alice Ford and mezzo-soprano Hyona Kim as Mistress Quickly, along with {…}
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale has announced its 2026-27 season celebrating its 45th season. Here are the vocal performances. Handel’s “Tolomeo” will be conducted by Peter Whelan and will star countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Tolomeo, soprano Lauren Snouffer as Seleuce, soprano Nicole Heaston as Elisa, countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim as Alessandro, and bass-baritone Dashon Burton as Araspe. Performance Dates: {…}
The Austin Opera has announced its 2026-27 season. The season opens with the world premiere of “Ofrenda“ by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist John de los Santos. “The idea for Ofrenda came to me during COVID,” said composer Sosa. “I wanted to write a work that centered around healing and celebrated essential workers. I was thinking about the curanderas (traditional {…}
The Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España has announced its 2025-26 season. Here are the vocal performances. Concert Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” will be conducted by David Afkham. Martin Winkler, Lise Lindström, Rodrigo Porras, Tansel Akzeybek, Jürgen Sacher, Stephen Milling, and Susana Gómez. Performance Dates: Oct. 3 & 5, 2025 Michael Laurenz, Christof Fischesser, Louise McClelland, Valentina Stadler, Tae Hwan Yun, {…}
LA Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the program. Opera Gabriella Reyes and Duke Kim star in the company premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” James Conlon conducts the production by Francesca Zambello. Performance Dates: Sept. 20-Oct. 8, 2025 Puccini’s “La Bohème” will return Janai Brugger, Oreste Cosimo, Erica Petrocelli, Gihoon Kim, Emmett O’Hanlon, and {…}
(Credit: © WILLIAM STRUHS/Spoleto Festival USA) Barber’s “Vanessa” is a work rarely heard. That is why when the occasion to hear the work comes, audiences run to see it. It doesn’t hurt if it has a great cast. This week the National Symphony Orchestra is bringing the work to audiences with a stellar cast that includes Nicole Heaston in the {…}
(Photo credit: Tony Hitchcock) Despite winning a Pulitzer Prize and receiving great acclaim following its Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1958, Barber and Menotti’s “Vanessa” is not regularly programmed as a full work. Arias such as “Must the winter come so soon?” and “Do not utter a word” are frequently heard in recitals, but this does not do justice to this {…}
The National Symphony Orchestra is set to present Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa” on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, 2025. The opera, which will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and will star Nicole Heaston in the title role, replacing Sondra Radvanovsky, who withdrew for personal reasons. Heaston will be joined by tenor Matthew Polenzani, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, and baritone Thomas Hampson. These performances of Barber’s “Vanessa” {…}
FringeArts has announced the lineup for the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. For the purposes of this article only opera performances are included . Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “The Listeners” makes American premiere with Nicole Heaston and Kevin Burdette. This premiere is co-presented with Opera Philadelphia. Performance Dates: September 25-29, 2024 “We Have Gone As Far As We Can Together” {…}
On August 23, the Black Leadership Arts Collective (B.L.A.C.) will present an Inaugural Gala. The evening will feature musical favorites at Manhattan School of Music, featuring members of B.L.A.C. and Grammy-nominated pianist Kevin Miller hosted by Terrance McKnight. Soloists will include Russell Thomas, Morris Robinson, Laquita Mitchell, J’Nai Bridges, Kenneth Kellogg, Kenneth Overton, Nicole Heaston, and Lawrence Brownlee. The proceeds {…}