Giuseppe Verdi is undeniably one of the greatest composers in the history of opera with such works as “La Traviata,” “Aida,” “Rigoletto,” ubiquitous with the artform. Verdi’s genius is often associated with his melodic vibrancy and muscularity, but the greatest strength of his art is his ability to embed his characters with deep humanity, even in the most absurd of {…}
Since Sept. 6, 2019, the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City has been holding an exhibition that details the development and creation of Verdi’s final two operas. The exhibition, entitled “Verdi: Creating ‘Otello’ and ‘Falstaff’” and curated by Gabriele Dotto, presents a wide range of materials courtesy of the Bertelsmann-owned Ricordi Archive, all organized as to give the {…}
The Verdi Chorus is set to showcase a new program “Sound and Fury” as part of its 36th season.The event, set for Nov. 16-17 at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California, will feature Alex Boyer, Shana Blake Hill, and Malcolm MacKenzie as guest soloists. The program will center on operatic sequences from Verdi’s “Otello” and “Il Trovatore,” {…}
Bay Street Theater and Divaria Productions are joining forces to put on a production of “Othello: The Opera and Play Enmeshed.” The event is set for Saturday, Sept. 14 in New York City. The production is set to to put a spotlight on one of the most famous stories ever written and its unique interpretations across different art forms. Leland {…}
Nino Machaidze is set to open Oper Frankfurt’s new production of Rossini’s “Otello.” The soprano announced via social media that she will replace the originally scheduled Karolina Makuła for the first four performances of the run. Machaidze stated, “My dears, I’m happy to inform you about a surprise news. I have just arrived in Frankfurt to jump into the production {…}
Jonas Kaufmann has revealed he is recording “Otello” for Sony Classical. The tenor posted a photo on Instagram with Antonio Pappano and Carlos Alvarez revealing that he is recording Verdi’s penultimate opera alongside Federica Lombardi in the role of Desdemona. The new recording comes after Kaufmann’s role debut in 2017 at the Royal Opera. He went on to perform the {…}
(Production picture from the Canadian Opera Company) The winners of the 2019 Dora Awards were announced earlier this week. Among the opera categories, the Canadian Opera Company won a number of major accolades, including Outstanding Production for its staging of “Eugene Onegin.” In sum, the company managed seven wins for three different operas. “Eugene Onegin” was the big winner, taking {…}
Verdi’s “Otello” will be live streamed via the Vienna State Opera’s live streaming service on June 20, 2019. Verdi’s final tragedy will star Aleksandrs Antonenko in his signature role alongside soprano Olga Bezsmertna with Vladislav Sulimsky as Iago. Myung-Whun Chung will conduct a production that will be directed by Adrian Noble. The stream kicks off at 4 p.m. local time {…}
The Royal Opera will make a return to Japan during the 2019-20 season. The company will perform two classic works of the standard repertory including Verdi’s “Otello” and Gounod’s “Faust.” Antonio Pappano will conduct all of the performances. “Faust” will open on tour on Sept. 12, 2019 and will feature tenor Vittorio Grigòlo in the title role. He will be {…}
The HD phenomenon has taken hold of the opera world over the past few decades, even though video recordings of performances have been around for quite some time. But today it has become embedded as a major part of the operatic experience and some might argue that a number of productions in major theaters are directed with the high-definition video {…}
It has been announced that Vladimir Stoyanov will be replacing Luca Salsi in the Baden-Baden Festpielhaus’ Easter Festival production of Verdi’s “Otello.” The Bulgarian baritone will star as Iago in Robert Wilson’s new production, alongside Stuart Skelton in the title role, and Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona. The production, which begins its run on April 13, will have its orchestration provided {…}
