On Jan. 29 ORF and Arte presented Wagner’s “Lohengrin” starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala. The opera was one of the highlights from last season as it featured the role debuts of both stars. It also showcased an all star supporting cast that included Evelyn Herlitzius and was conducted by Christian Thielemann. However, the opera was only broadcast in France {…}
Audiences will get the first taste of what Jonas Kaufmann’s “Tristan und Isolde” will sound like when he takes on the second act at Carnegie Hall next year. The esteemed concert venue’s 2017-18 season was announced on Wednesday, fans learning that opera’s greatest stars will be everywhere on the schedule. Kaufmann’s “Tristan” is the big one of course, a concert {…}
For those who missed the Silver Gala from Baden Baden on New Years Eve, Arte will present it on March 19, 2017. The concert, which rung in the New Year starred Sonya Yoncheva and Piotr Beczala and was condcuted by Yoncheva’s husband Domingo Hindoyan. The concert was divided into two parts. The first included popular arias and duets from opera {…}
Verdi’s “Rigoletto” returns to the Met stage on Friday, Jan. 20 in a lengthy run through February and then a few days in April. Olga Peretyatko and Željko Lučić will be the production’s mainstays, singing every single presentation of the work this season. This will be the Lučić’s fourth run of “Rigoletto” at the Met, byt far his most performed {…}
Piotr Beczala encored “Pourquoi me réveiller” yesterday during the opening night performance of Massenet’s “Werther” at the Grand Theatre Liceu in Barcelona. The famed aria is one of the showstopping pieces in the opera but it is rare to hear an encore in this work. However, Beczala is the latest tenor in the past month to encore the aria. In {…}
This weekend many of the international opera houses are back in session and so are many of the stars. Juan Diego Florez will be in Vienna while Yonghoon Lee will be premiering Don Carlo in Munich. Renee Fleming, Anna Smirnova and Ludovic Tezier will also be performing Austria The Vienna State Opera kicks off its weekend with a star studded {…}
Piotr Beczala takes on the role of Massenet’s “Werther” on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017, kick starting the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s run of the famed opera. Beczala took on the challenging role in Salzburg in August 2015 before reprising it at the Opéra National de Paris exactly one year ago. His return to the role on Sunday will be the {…}
On Jan. 29, Wagner’s “Lohengrin” will be broadcast on ORF III. The broadcast company announced that the opera will be shown at 8:15 local time on HD. The broadcast is a recording of “Lohengrin” from Semperoper Dresden last May. The production marked the triple role debuts of Anna Netrebko as Elsa von Brabant, Piotr Beczała as Lohengrin, and Tomasz Konieczny {…}
On New Year’s Eve many operatic stars will celebrate the New Year performing on stage. There will be many productions of “Die Fledermaus” and the Metropolitan Opera will present a new production of Gounod’s “Rome et Juliette.” However for those not interested in seeing a complete opera and interested in something lighter, many of the world’s greatest stars will perform {…}
Polish tenor Piotr Beczala was born on this day, December 28, exactly 50 years ago. In celebration of the tenor’s big day, Operawire shares 50 facts about the operatic superstar. Piotr Beczala was born on Dec. 28, 1966. He is from Czechowice-Dziedzice in southern Poland. He studied under Sena Jurinac in Switzerland. He is married to Katarzyna Beczała. Beczala is known for choosing his roles wisely {…}
The Holiday season can be a time of inactivity for many and it is a time to relax. This week most opera singers took time to celebrate and go on vacation. Some continued to sing and triumph while others took advantage of the European cities to sight see and explore a little. Michael Fabiano It was an eventful and star {…}