Carmela Remigio, Enea Scala, Mariangela Sicilia & Paolo Bordogna Lead Donizetti Opera Festival’s 2025 Season

The Donizetti Opera Festival has announced its 2025 season. The festival will open with “Caterina Cornaro” conducted by Riccardo Frizza and directed by Francesco Micheli. Carmela Remigio leads the cast with Fulvio Valenti, Enea Scala, Riccardo Fassi, and Vito Priante. Performance Dates: Nov. 14-30, 2025 “Il Campanello” will be conducted by Enrico Pagano and directed by Stefania Bonfadelli. The cast {…}

Apr 12, 2025

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau, Michael Volle, Ludovic Tézier, Pretty Yende, Rolando Villazón, Federica Lombardi, Nicole Car, Freddie De Tommaso & Juan Diego Flórez Headline Wiener Staatsoper’s 2025-26 Season

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 {…}

Apr 2, 2025

Anna Netrebko, Freddie De Tommaso, Marina Rebeka, Bryn Terfel, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lisette Oropesa, Juan Diego Flórez & Pretty Yende Lead Royal Ballet & Opera’s 2025-26 Season

The Royal Ballet and Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Puccini’s “Tosca” in a new production by Oliver Mears. Anna Netrebko and Aleksandra Kurzak share the title role. Freddie De Tommaso and Gerald Finley also star. Performance Dates: Sept. 11-Oct. 7, 2025 Speranza Scappucci conducts Verdi’s “I vespri siciliani” in a revival of Stefan Herheim’s production. Marina {…}

Dec 7, 2024

Teatro Carlo Felice to Present ‘Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze’

The third title of the Teatro Carlo Felice’s 2024-25 season will be Nino Rota’s “Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze.” The work in four acts will be shown on Dec. 13, 15, and 17 and will be conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti. Damiano Michieletto will conduct the work in a production from 2007 that was made in collaboration with the Opéra {…}

Nov 15, 2024

Wexford Festival Opera 2024 Review: Le Convenienze Ed Inconvenienze Teatrali

(Photo: Patricio Cassinoni) At his best, Donizetti is a master of the comic opera, with works such as “Don Pasquale” and “L’Elisir d’Amore” still playing to packed houses almost 200 years after their premieres. Others, however, are less well-known; his 1831 one-act farce, “Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali,” being a case in point. Few people will have heard of it, {…}

Oct 24, 2024

Jessica Pratt, Carmen Giannattasio, Anastasia Bartoli & Juliana Grigoryan Lead Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s 2025 Season

The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has announced its 2025 season. Opera The season opens with Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” with Riccardo Frizza conducting a cast that includes Carmen Giannattasio, Angelo Villari, and Claudio Sgura. Paul Curran directs. Another cast includes Ann Petersen, Amadi Lagha, and Gustavo Castillo. Performance Dates: Jan. 24-30, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Giovanni Sala, Marko Mimica, and Lucas Meachem lead Donizetti’s {…}

May 15, 2024

Erika Grimaldi, John Osborn, Sara Blanch & Gregory Kunde Lead Teatro Regio di Torino’s 2024-25 Season

The Teatro Regio di Torino has announced its 2024-25 season. “Manon” Renato Palumbo conducts Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” with Arnaud Bernard directing. The cast will include Erika Grimaldi, Dinara Alieva, Andeka Gorrotxategui, Carlo Ventre, Carlo Lepore, and Alessandro Luongo. Performance Dates: Oct. 1-26, 2024 Massenet’s “Manon” wil star Ekaterina Bakanova, Martina Russomanno, Bjorn Burger Maxim Lisiin, Atalla Ayan, Andrei Danilov, Roberto {…}

May 15, 2024

Sonya Yoncheva, Anna Pirozzi, Piotr Beczala & Sara Blanch Lead Festival Castell de Peralada’s 2024 Season

Spain’s Festival Castell de Peralada has announced its 2024 season. Here are the vocal performances. Piotr Beczala opens the season with Sarah Tysman in a program of songs by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and opera arias. Performance Date: July 19, 2024 Soprano Sonya Yoncheva and Ismael Jordi team up with Rubén Fernandez Aguirre for a program dedicated to zarzuela. Performance Date: {…}

Jan 12, 2024

Juan Diego Flórez, Maria José Siri, Francesco Meli & Vasilisa Berzhanskaya Lead New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences are in for two full recordings of well-known works with some of the world’s greatest singers. There are also choral recoridngs and some less known works to discover. Heaven to Earth Signum Classics releases Heaven to Earth, a collection of singable, {…}

Dec 8, 2023

Canadian Opera Company to Present ‘Don Giovanni’

The Canadian Opera Company is set to present Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” from Feb. 2 through 24, 2024. The opera, which will be performed at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, is directed by British director Amy Lane from the production’s original director, Kasper Holten. COC Music Director Johannes Debus will lead the COC Orchestra with a cast that {…}

Nov 16, 2023

Joel Prieto Leads Bilbao Opera’s ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’

The Bilbao Opera is set to present Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.” The company will present the opera from Nov. 18 to 27, 2023, including the 1,100th performance in the company’s history. The Donizetti work will star Joel Prieto in the role of Nemorino, Elena Sancho Pereg as Adina, Pablo Ruiz as Belcore, and Paolo Bordogna as Dulcamara. The role of Giannetta will {…}