(Credit: Neda Navaee) The Philadelphia Orchestra is set to close out its 2024-25 season with Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The full five-hour performance in a concert setting will feature Nina Stemme in her signature role as Isolde and Stuart Skelton as Tristan. The cast will be rounded by Karen Cargill as Brangäne, Tareq Nazmi as King Marke, Brian Mulligan as {…}
Nina Stemme will make her long-awaited Carnegie Hall solo recital debut on May 2, 2025. The legendary soprano will perform Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Liebestod from “Tristan und Isolde.” The soprano will also perform songs by Weill and Elgar’s “Sea Pictures” with pianist Roland Pöntinen. Stemme recently returned to New York for performances of “Die Frau ohne Schatten” at the {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Maurizio Benini conducts Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in a new production by Barbara Wysocka. Bekhzod Davronov, Igor Golovatenko, Ludovic Tézier, Serena Sáenz, Nadine Sierra, Riccardo Fassi, and Elmina Hasan star. Performance Dates: March 7-24, 2026 & July 28 & 31, 2026 Lotte de Beer directs a new production of Gounod’s “Faust” with Jonathan {…}
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its third annual Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival. First up is “United in Song! A Community Celebration.” Performance Dates: May 17, 2025 At the core of the experience will be three concert performances of “Jenůfa.” Franz Welser-Möst conducts the opera which will headline a slate centered on the theme of “Reconciliation.” Latonia {…}
For the first time in 11 years, the Metropolitan Opera has revived what I consider to be one of its greatest productions in my lifetime. Herbert Wernicke’s production of “Die Frau ohne Schatten” is simply one of the most sublime marriages of stage direction and opera in recent Met history. First off, it’s a challenging piece, not only musically, but {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard/Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to revive Strauss’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” The production by Herbert Wernicke, which premiered on Dec. 13, 2001, and was last revived in 2013, will star soprano Elza van den Heever in her Met role debut as the Empress, soprano Lise Lindstrom in her Met role debut as the Dyer’s Wife, {…}
(Credit: Neda Navaee) Opernhaus Zürich has announced that Nina Stemme’s Liederand concert has been canceled. The concert which was set to be presented on Oct. 31, 2024, was canceled as Stemme is ill. The company noted, “Tickets already purchased will be automatically canceled and credited to the customer’s account.” Stemme next returns to the Metropolitan Opera for a production of {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week there will be two choices of Ring Cycles and a debut album by one of the greatest opera singers in the world. Carlos Simon: Songs of Separation The National Symphony Orchestra led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda releases “Songs of Separation,” {…}
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 {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get a taste of rare works by French and Italian composers. Here is a look at this week’s new releases. Kozłowski Requiem The Singapore Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, {…}
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2024-25 Season. Here are the vocal performances. Klaus Mäkelä and Jennifer Johnston perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Performance Dates: Oct. 17-19, 2024 Franz Welser-Möst conducts Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” and a new work by Bernd Richard Deutsch. Limmie Pulliam and Iurii Samoilov are the soloists Performance Dates: Nov. 21 -23, 2025 Fabio {…}