Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, who opened Opera Philadelphia’s 2017-2018 season in the title role of the new opera “Elizabeth Cree,” is set to close the season in the title role Bizet’s “Carmen.” The acclaimed mezzo-soprano will star in a new production by Paul Curran, who last helmed Verdi’s “La Traviata” for Philadelphia. Mack and Curran will be accompanied by a cast of rising stars including Evan {…}
Opera America has announced the recipients of the second cycle of Innovation Grants. The grants, which are “generously funded by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation,” were launched in 2016 in support companies that have shown tremendous innovation in diverse areas of the art form. The grants total $1.5 million. This year, 20 companies were awarded the prestigious grants. They {…}
The Opera Philadelphia 2017-18 season is set to close with Bizet’s “Carmen.” Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, who opened the season in the title role of the new opera “Elizabeth Cree,” returns in the iconic title role. Directed by Paul Curran, who led 2015’s acclaimed “La Traviata,” the new production of “Carmen” will be showcased five times. “’Carmen’ is among the world’s {…}
Opera Philadelphia has announced its 2018-19 season. The season will see the company continue to shape the future of opera. The 2018-2019 season will kick off on September 20-30 with the festival’s second edition, O18, comprising five operatic happenings – two world premieres, two new productions, and a three-part cabaret event – at multiple venues across the city. The season will {…}
Is art merely a form of entertainment or can it serve a greater purpose? Many people believe the latter is true although it’s possible that they are deluding themselves in order to partake in something they enjoy. It’s a question that can be debated forever. It came to mind for me this past week when I attended Lawrence Brownlee’s “Cycles {…}
Lawrence Brownlee is one of the great bel canto tenors of this generation, singing the works of Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini, among others, to tremendous critical success around the globe. He is currently in the midst of a run in one of his signature roles as Arturo in Bellini’s “I Puritani” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and prepping for {…}
This week’s offerings range from the modern to the classical in an assortment of options all around the continent. Six. Twenty. Outrageous – American Opera Projects For three days, the American Opera Projects world premieres the new opera by Daniel Thomas Davis with a cast that includes Ariadne Greif, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, and Andrew Fuchs. The performances will take place at {…}
Italian soprano Herva Nelli, born on Jan. 9, 1909, may not be a major household name the way other sopranos of the early 20th century have become, but she surely had an adventurous and prolific career that kicked off in the United States. Born in Italy, her family moved to the States when she was but 10, eventually studying at {…}
It’s popular to make year-end lists, and I saw between 30-35 performances during the calendar year. Much of what I saw was terrific and, of course, there were many more outstanding performances that I didn’t see. These are the five that I will remember the most from what I saw; they are not necessarily the best but will remain in {…}
Lauren Snouffer, Mark Stone, and Anthony Roth Costanzo are set to star in the Philadelphia premiere of George Benjamin’s “Written on Skin.” Opera Philadelphia will present the first American new staging of the work since its world premiere in 2012. The opera is considered by many as one of the “century’s most successful new operas” and this season the work will be {…}
The Curtis Institute of Music, Opera Philadelphia, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts have announced a new partnership to establish Curtis Opera Theatre at the Perelman. The partnership will feature a spring series featuring two Curtis Opera Theatre productions at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. For its first year, the series will include a March {…}