Welcome back as we explore the latest CD and DVD releases from around the opera world. This week, audiences will get to see a new production of “Nabucco” with a great diva, while another great mezzo releases a new album. There is also a world premiere recording of an opera from the Metropolitan Opera. Here are the new releases of {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The production will be directed by Kirill Serebrennikov who will reimagine the opera to the present day, using a set design that sharply exposes the societal divide between rich and poor. The stage will be split horizontally: above, an elegant, minimalist home for the elite, filled with contemporary {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2026-27 season. Premiere Productions The first production of the season will be Wagner’s “Siegfried” with Benjamin Bruns, Matthias Klink, Nicholas Brownlee, Georg Nigl, Timo Riihonen, Wiebke Lehmkuhl, Simone Schneider, and Miina-Liisa Värelä. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the production by Tobias Kratzer. Performance Dates: Oct. 29, 2026-July 29, 2027 Nadine Sierra and Lisette Oropesa alternate as {…}
Arte.TV is set to present Bayerische Staatsoper‘s new production of “Faust” on Feb. 8. The production by Lotte de Beer will be conducted by Natahlie Stutzmann. Jonathan Tetelman will lead the cast in the title role alongside Kyle Ketelsen, Florian Sempey, Thomas Mole, Olga Kulchynska, Emily Sierra, and Dshamilja Kaiser. The production will be shown in cooperation with BR-KLASSIK und Staatsoper.tv. {…}
(Photo credits: Hole, Karpati&Zarewicz, Light) The Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) announced the winners of the awards for the 2026 edition. This article only features winners in vocal categories. Conductor and music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Jakub Hrůša, was named the artist of the year. Composer of the year was given to Péter {…}
(Photo: © Wiener Staatsoper / Michael Pöhn) Before I get to the performance in question for this review, “Dialogues des Carmelites,” I have a few words about the setting. Though reasonably well-travelled, somehow I never went to Vienna. I did attend Salzburg for the festival. And Munich as well, for a shattering Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead”. Paris, {…}
The Santa Fe Opera has announced its 2026 season. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will open the season with a revival production directed by Melanie Bacaling. The cast will include Karen Chia-ling Ho, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Burton, Jarrett Ott, and Sun-Ly Pierce. John Fiore conducts. Performance Dates: July 3-29, 2026 Harry Bicket conducts Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in a production by Christopher Luscombe. Josh Lovell, Joélle Harvey, Rainelle {…}
(Credit: Julia Wimmerlin) Olga Kulchynska is currently starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Le Nozze di Figaro.” The soprano made her Met debut six years ago and has already performed over 20 times with the company in “La Bohème” and Turandot.” This season, she will get her first Met Live in HD with her interpretation of Susanna in Mozart’s {…}
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the operas and recitals for the new season. Premieres Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” will get a new production by Dirk Schmeding. The cast will be headed by Franz Xaver Schlecht, Margaret Plummer, Slávka Zámečníková, Ivo Stanchev, Monika Bohinec, Pavol Breslik, Michael Laurenz, Peter Kellner, Matthäus Schmidlechner, Ilia Staple, and Alex Ilvakhin. Tomáš Hanus conducts. A second cast will {…}
(Credit: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD season will continue with Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” on April 26, 2025. The production by Richard Eyre will be conducted by Joana Mallwitz and will star Michael Sumuel and soprano Olga Kulchynska as Figaro and Susanna. They will be joined by Joshua Hopkins as Count Almaviva, Federica Lombardi as the {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. It’s another week of many releases, including new complete opera recordings, solo albums, oratorios, and sacred works. John Weldon: The Judgment of Paris A long-lost masterpiece revived by Julian Perkins, Cambridge Handel Opera Company and Academy of Ancient Music Academy of Ancient Music {…}