Renowned director Otto Schenk has passed away. He was 94. Born in Vienna, Schenk studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar and then commenced his career at the Theater in der Josefstadt and Wiener Volkstheater. He shifted into directing in 1953, his first projects taking place at the Burgtheater, Munich Kammerspiele, and Salzburg Festival. In 1957, he directed “The Magic {…}
(Credit: Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that tenor Juan Diego Flórez will sing the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” on Sept. 21, 2020. The tenor will replace Liparit Avetisyan, who is ill, in the final performance of the run. Flórez is the latest artist in a series of cast changes at the {…}
Thirty years ago, in June 1990, opera lovers were glued to their television screens for four consecutive weekday evenings as they experienced what Richard Wagner always intended: a consecutive-evening presentation of “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” Of course, his wish for four nights in a row was not realistic for the stage, given the demands it would place on musicians and {…}
On New Years Eve the Metropolitan Opera will premiere a new production of Puccini’s “Tosca.” The production, which will be directed by David McVicar comes on the heels of a controversial one by Luc Bondy (his interpretation of the Puccini work was infamously booed on its opening night). While the Met has showcased Tosca a whopping 950 times since its {…}