Editor’s Note: This piece has been edited as statements have come out regarding the situation. Following accusations of sexual harassment, numerous opera personalities have come in defense of Plácido Domingo. In the wake of accusations by nine women, opera stars have taken to Twitter, Instagram, and news outlets to defend their colleague. Among them is Bulgarian superstar soprano Sonya Yoncheva {…}
On April 12, 2019, the Metropolitan Opera resumed it season’s run of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Occupying a rather unique space as a dramma giocoso, the work unfolds the allegorical message through often-comedic methods. The cast and crew of Friday’s performance strongly favored these comedic elements, much to the delight of the audience. Michael Grandage’s production highlights the universal nature of {…}
Paul Appleby will sing the role of Don Ottavio in tonight’s performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at the Metropolitan Opera. The Met Opera announced that Appleby will replace Pavol Breslik, who is ill. Appleby is no stranger to performing the role of Don Ottavio as he performed it during the 2016-17 Met Opera season. The tenor is also scheduled to {…}
The 1848 Californian gold rush has an almost mythical place in American cultural history, with its associations of lucky strikes and the pioneering spirit, as well as more negative connotations of lawlessness, hard toil and poverty for those who were not so lucky. It has spawned Hollywood films, documentaries, books and songs, while opera-goers are also likely to associate it {…}
The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts has announced its 2019 summer season, which will feature some of the greatest vocal performers in the world. While the program includes a plethora of instrumental music and performances, our focus for the purposes of this article will be to highlight singers and any opera productions. First up will be “Versaille: Portrait {…}
Debussy’s masterwork “Pelléas et Mélisande” is one of the most glorious operas ever written. Its melodies are elusive, but when performed at its maximum expression, it can wrap you up and transport you to a different state in a way only few other operas can. It is truly a masterwork. The Metropolitan Opera produced the work for the first time {…}
This week, Debussy’s masterwork “Pelléas et Mélisande” returns to the Metropolitan Opera stage for the first time since 2011. The opera will feature Paul Appleby and Isabel Leonard in the title roles respectively. Appleby will be the 15th Pelléas in Met history while Leonard will be the 17th singer to inhabit the role of his doomed lover Mélisande. Here is {…}
On Friday, October 26, tenor Paul Appleby was joined by pianist Natalia Katyukova for an evening of lieder and songs from Benjamin Britten, George Frederic Handel, Franz Schubert, and more. This night also saw the world premiere of “Songs of Imagined Love,” a new cycle from composer Hannah Lash, which drew inspiration from the works of Schubert. While most of {…}
Leonard Bernstein is the composer’s seminal theatrical work, a work that has suddenly become ever-present around the United States. Almost every major company or concert hall has mounted some iteration of the work in the last year or so to celebrate the composer’s centennial birthday. And this was the case at the legendary Carnegi Hall, which held a benefit concert {…}
The New York Festival of Song has announced its 30th Anniversary Celebration, which will feature a star-studded cast. The performance is slated for April 24, 2018, at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center. The concert is slated to include a wide range of songs from such composers as Vaughn Williams, Blitzstein, Bolcom, Dvorak, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Granados, Eubie {…}
Carnegie Hall announced its 2018-19 season featuring some of the world’s greatest singers and musicians. To stick with opera, we will only be highlighting the singers who will be featured in the season. Orchestras Mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot will be featured with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner in an all-Berlioz program. The program will feature {…}
