Early music enthusiasts in Seattle showed up in full force for a single concert performance of a Baroque pastiche of the Orpheus story featuring world-class early music specialists. How could they resist the intriguing concept and such a stellar line up? Philippe Jaroussky is a major international star (a “rockstar countertenor” as the Seattle Symphony marketing department awkwardly posits) {…}
(Photo Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) On October 20, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera premiered this season’s production of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Mark Morris’ production gave the classic work a staging that, while at times veering towards the abstract, remained consistent to its artistic vision and true to its source material. One detail, downplayed but very present, were the {…}
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisboa has announced its 2019-20 season. The season will start off with Welsh National Opera’s production of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” directed by David Pountney. The cast will feature Miklós Sebestyén as the Marquis of Calatrava / Il Padre Guardiano, Cristiana Oliveira / Julianna Di Giacomo as Leonora, Damiano Salerno as Don Carlo di {…}
OperaVision will present the Irish National Opera’s production of “Orfeo ed Euridice” on April 12, 2019. The production will feature Sharon Carty, Sarah Power, and Emma Nash under the direction of Emma Martin. Peter Whelan conducts. The stream kicks off at 7 p.m. local time. That’s around 2 p.m. EDT and 11 a.m. PST for the start time. It will {…}
Love, lust, passion, excitement! No, we’re not talking about your planned Valentine’s Day festivities, but opera! Opera is filled with some of the most passionate love stories ever written, and these stories are set to the most heart-wrenching music known to humankind. If you’re still looking for that special someone to share Valentine’s Day with, we’ve devised this quiz just {…}
Few composers in the history of opera were as influential as Christoph Willibald Gluck. Born on July 2, 1714, the composer was one of the major reformers of the artform of his day. He was noted as being critical of opera of his day and how it had strayed from its origins. He sought to bring back the sense of {…}
It has been a particularly heavy season at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with an absolutely splendid run of Marc Blitzstein’s “Regina” and the emotionally-charged world premiere of Huang Ruo’s “An American Soldier.” It was thus welcome that the final production to debut this season, Gluck’s “Orfeo and Euridice,” provided an uplifting ending. This production by director Ron Daniels, though {…}
The Irish National Opera is opening its first ever season starting on Jan. 9, 2018 with a gala concert. From there the company will showcase its first opera of the season on Feb. 24 when it kicks things off with Thomas Adès’ “Powder Her Face.” That will be followed by Patrick Mason’s new staging of “The Marriage of Figaro,” which will {…}