It was March 31, 2017, one day before the infamous day where people play tricks on one another. Soprano Jennifer Rowley was getting some shuteye, her days consumed by the task of taking on Samuel Barber’s “Vanessa” at the Toledo opera. On that very night, she would be singing the first of two performances for the demanding work. The phone {…}
The Royal Opera House has announced that Dinara Alieva has withdrawn from singing the role of Liù in this summer’s revival of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The role will now be performed by Abkhazian-Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava on July 5, 9, 12 and 15 Gerzmava made her Royal Opera debut in 2008 as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” and has since returned to sing {…}
The Salzburg Osterfestpiele has announced its lineup for 2018. The opera that will headline the festival will be Puccini’s “Tosca” starring German soprano Anja Harteros. The soprano is currently portraying Sieglinde at the festival in a new production of Wagner’s “Die Walküre.” She will be joined by Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko and the production will also star French baritone Ludovic Tezier. {…}
Anton Coppola is the luckiest guy in the world. At least that is how he views the life he has led and continues to lead. The maestro, born on March 21, 1917, and who determined his given career path during the first decade of his existence, is slated for “one last hurrah” when he conducts a final concert on March {…}
The ending of Puccini’s “Turandot” is one of opera’s great tragedies. The composer, at the peak of his power, had composed his most musically daring work to date with some of his most phenomenal strokes of dramatic genius alongside some of his most riveting and enduring melodies. And yet, when he was ever so close to completing it, he hit {…}
For decades Marcello Giordani was a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera, taking on many of the classics of the operatic canon as well as some lesser known works. He made his debut in 1993 as Rodolfo in “La Bohème” and has gone on to sing over 200 performances. The tenor, who is celebrating his 54th birthday on Jan. 25, also {…}
The San Francisco has announced its 2017-18 season with major classics making a return to the house and one significant world premiere slated to close out 2017. The big announcement of the day was that this season is music director Nicola Liusiotti’s last with the company, though it was hinted that the company would find ways to have him return {…}
Puccini’s “Tosca” had its debut on Jan. 14, 1900. Since then it has been an instant classic, one of the staples of the operatic repertoire. All of the world’s greatest sopranos have taken their respective cracks at the role with Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price and Eva Marton among some of the many popular exponents of the role. And {…}
Another weekend in 2017, even more operatic activity around the United States. Of course the Metropolitan Opera continues its busy schedule with “Il Barbiere di Sivilgia,” “La Bohème” and “Roméo et Juliette” the three major offerings with such stars as Javier Camarena, Pretty Yende, Ailyn Pérez, Michael Fabiano, Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau leading the casts for their respective operas {…}
This review is for the performance on Wednesday January 11 and is written jointly by David & Francisco Salazar. Applause rang from every corner of the Metropolitan Opera, the audience awaiting the final performer to step onstage so that she too could get her accolades. The moment Ailyn Pérez walked out of the iconic golden curtain, she was not only {…}
The union between an opera singer and his or her craft is a love story, many of which come in two variations. The first origin story is like most love stories, a chance encounter on their way into adulthood. Their first love was some other profession or dream that, like many first loves, never quite came to fruition. Such has {…}
