Malmö Opera will present “La Bohème” in a unique production set in 1960s New York City. The opera, which opens on March 15, 2025, will run through June 1, 2025, with the May 4 performance set to be live streamed world wide. The production is directed by Rodula Gaitanou and features Konu Kim and Yana Kleyn as the star-crossed lovers. {…}
(Photo: Puccini’s most beloved masterpiece is a feast at any time of the year, but as a Christmas treat, promises to deliver many gifts. Alas, like ALL gifts, some are more desirable than others; some special, some expected and some unwanted. As is the case with this fifth revival of Richard Jones’s classic 2017 production, where some presents are more {…}
The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced a cast change for the Dec. 16 performance of “Madama Butterfly.” The company announced via social media that Sonya Yoncheva has withdrawn from the showcase due to illness. She will be replaced by Ailyn Pérez, who sang the performance on Dec. 15, 2024. The two sopranos have been alternating the title role alongside {…}
(Photos: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s “La Bohème” celebrated a new season of success thanks to Kensho Watanabe at the podium and a stunning cast of favorites, including Ailyn Pérez, Dmytro Popov, Boris Pinkhasovich, Bogdan Talos, Emily Pogorelc, Gihoon Kim, and Donald Maxwell. Conductor Kensho Watanabe’s Midas Touch Conductor Kensho Watanabe, who made his Met debut with {…}
As chance would have it, the day the Paris cathedral reopened was also the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s birth. To mark the occasion, his “Messe di gloria” was performed at Metz’s Saint-Etienne cathedral on November 29. The last descendant of a long line of organists in his home town of Lucca, Puccini, only twenty-two, wrote a religious work with this {…}
Orchestra Miami is set to honor the legacy of Giacomo Puccini with a 100th-anniversary concert led by conductor Elaine Rinaldi. The event kicks off at 8 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2024 at the historic Miami Scottish Rite Temple. The performance has particular emotional resonance for Rinaldi, who credits the composer as the inspiration for her career. “In 1992, I was hit {…}
The Korean National Opera is set to present Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” this December. Sopranos Rim Se-kyung and Kim Eun-hee share the lead role of Minnie. They are joined by Antonio Yang and Insu Hwang as Jack Rance and tenors Sungkyu Park and Yoon Suk Han as Dick Johnson / Rammerez. other cast members include Doho Kang, Jared Werlein, {…}
(Photo: Padraig Grant) To mark the hundredth anniversary of the death of Giacomo Puccini, the Wexford Festival Opera commissioned William Niall Morris to create a short work celebrating the composer’s life and music. The result was a short piece, lasting about an hour, entitled “Puccini: Man of the Theatre,” which essentially amounted to a selection of his greatest hits linked {…}
(Credit: Rosie Hardy) Lise Lindstrom recently took time to converse with Benjamin Torbert for OperaWire. Lindstrom sings all three Brünnhildes in “Die Walküre,” “Siegfried,” and “Götterdämmerung” in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s very lightly staged concert presentation of Wagner’s “Der Ring Des Nibelungen,” on 13-20 October 2024. She already appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for two performances of “Walküre” in {…}
Opera Baltimore and OperaDelaware will join forces to present Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The Puccini classic will take the stage at Stephens Hall Theatre, Towson University in Baltimore on Oct. 18 and 20, 2024 followed by two showcases on Oct. 25 and 27 at The Grand in Wilmington, Delaware. Taking on the role of Rodolfo will be Edward Graves. Daniel Rich {…}
(photo courtesy of Utah Opera) Tulsa Opera has announced a cast change for its upcoming Act two showcase of “Tosca” as part of the President’s Council Dinner Concert. The company revealed that Leah Crocetto has withdrawn from the performance. In her stead, audiences will experience the talents of Kara Shay Thomson on Oct. 8, 2024 at 6 p.m. Thomson has {…}