The Enescu Festival has confirmed its 2021 season. The festival held in Bucharest, Romania will run from August 28 to Sept. 26 and will include five operas among other programming. There will also be COVID-safety measures implemented to ensure the safety of all audience members. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Ondřej Adámek’s Song cycle. Magdalena Kožená {…}
This week audiences can experience dueling tenors, two Christmas albums, two baroque albums, two choral albums, and a pianist interpreting operatic favorites. Here is what you can stream this week. Amici e Rivali Michael Spyres and Lawrence Brownlee celebrate the art of the trailblazing star singers of Rossini’s time in a new album for Erato. The recording showcases arias, duets, {…}
(Credit: Theo Gosselin/Andrea Torres Balaguer, persimmon, 2018) FRA Cinema has announced the 2020-21 cinema season for the Opéra de Paris. The season will include previously recorded performances and live performances. The season begins with Massenet’s “Manon” starring Pretty Yende and Benjamin Bernheim. The production, which was the final production of the 2019-20 season at the Opéra de Paris also stars {…}
(Credit: Sony Classical/Baden-Baden/Tatiana Vlasova) The Konzerthaus Dortmund in Germany has unveiled its 2020-21 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on vocal or operatic performances. The season opens with Haydn’s “Die Schöpfung” with soloists Robin Johannsen, David Fischer, and Florian Boesch. The Collegium Vocale Gent and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is led by Philippe Herreweghe. Performance Date: {…}
Credit: Alexey Kostromin/Dario Acosta/Paul Schirnhofer-DG The Berlin Philharmonic has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a number of tours, vocal performances and world famous stars. For the purposes of this article we will only concentrate on vocal performances. The season opens with Musikfest, which was announced previously. Click here for more details. Philharmonie Daniel Harding conducts countertenor Andrew Watts in music {…}
(Credit:Javier del Real/© Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical/ Bernard Martinez) The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a vast array of programs and stars. Here are opera and vocal performance highlights of the season: Operas Handel’s Messiah is set to be directed by Robert Wilson with Marc Minkowski conducting. The cast includes Elena Tsallagova, Helena Rasker, Richard {…}
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) {…}
(Credit: Brescia/Amisano – Teatro alla Scala) It is surprising that G.F. Handel’s “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” has had only one previous outing (back in 1956) at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, as it is perhaps a work rich in veins of Italian national pride: a heroic tale based upon the valor and moral fortitude of one of Rome’s most glorious emperors, {…}
(Credit: Teatro Regio di Torino/Royal Opera/Bilbao Opera This weekend is filled with new productions, season openings, role debuts and some of operas greatest masterpieces. Lolita – Prague State Opera, Czech Republic Rodion Shchedrin’s new opera gets another performance at the Estates Theatre with Pelageya Kurennaya in the title role, as well as Petr Sokolov, Alexander Kravets, Daria Rositskaya, Michaela Zajmi, {…}
The shortlist for the Gramophone Awards 2019 has been announced. For the purposes of this article, we will focus solely on opera or vocal related awards. In the opera category, John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” with the compose conducting was the first of three selections. Halevy’s “La Reine de Chypre” was the second nomination; this production featured the Orchestre de chambre {…}
The Palau de les Arts has announced a varied 2019-20 season featuring operas, zarzuelas, concerts, and recitals. Here is a look. Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” is set to be conducted by Christopher Moulds in a production by Emilio Sagi. The cast will be headed by Andrzej Filończyk, María José Moreno, Sabina Puértolas, Robert Gleadow, Cecilia Molinari, Susana Cordón, and Valeriano Lanchas. Performance {…}