“Il Trovatore” is one of Verdi’s most popular operas and it is said that to do it justice, all you need are the four greatest voices in the world. The opera certainly packs a punch for all four soloists as it requires agility, legato, and expressiveness throughout their respective ranges. Its story is also known for being “incomprehensible” and hard {…}
Mezzo-soprano and producer Raehann Bryce-Davis has dropped the first single for her forthcoming genre-bending, self-produced debut album, titled “Evolution.” The first single, “I Praise the Dance,” is composed by Rene Orth and uses the electronics she utilized in her recent opera to create something more modern and immediate. Orth’s joyful dance anthem, with layers of ad libs by Raehann, has {…}
The Grand Théâtre de Genève has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” opens the season with Gwyn Hughes Jones, Burkhard Fritz, and Elisabet Strid in the title roles. Marc Albrecht conducts the production by Michael Thalheimer. The cast will also include Tareq Nazmi, Kristina Stanek, Craig Colclough, and Julien Henric. Performance Dates: Sept. 15-27, 2024 Tomáš Netopil {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its production of “Aida” on April 28, 2024. The company said that Raehann Bryce-Davis will sing the role of Amneris replacing Eve-Maud Hubeaux who is ill. Bryce-Davis is a mezzo who has performed at many of the great theaters in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present Puccini’s triptych “Il Trittico” for the first time. The opera will premiere on May 3, 2024 and will be shown in celebration of the centenary of Puccini’s death 1924-2024. “Il Trittico” will be conducted by Lorenzo Viotti. Stage director Barrie Kosky will helm the production and will star baritone Michael Volle in {…}
On Jan. 27, 2024, San Francisco Performances is set to present mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis in a solo piano-voice recital. The mezzo will be joined by pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliersin a program that includes Amy Beach’s “Three Browning Songs, Op. 44,” Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder,” Melissa Dunphy’s “Come, My Tan Faced Children,” Margaret Bond’s “Birth,” Florence Price’s “The Crescent Moon,” Maria Thompson Corley’s {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl) The Metropolitan Opera’s 2023-24 season unfurled a tapestry of music, history, and Afrofuturistic magical realism with Broadway producer Robert O’Hara’s “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” composed by Anthony Davis, to a libretto by Thulani Davis, based on a story by Christopher Davis. The Met, traditionally a bastion of opera’s classic repertoire, transformed into a {…}
(Credit: Zenith Richards / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present the company premiere of Anthony Davis’s “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.” The opera will open on Nov. 3 and will be conducted by Kazem Abdullah in a newly revised score, which features a layered, jazz-inflected setting. The opera will star baritone Will Liverman, soprano Leah {…}
(Photo credit: Ⓒ-Clärchen and Matthias Baus) Something in the Zeitgeist tells us that the old saying “Dreaming is free” is no longer true. If the box-office bomb “Babylon” explored how much the Hollywood dream can cost, and it costs a lot, both in the film and in the box-office. Philipp Stölzl and Philipp M. Krenn’s take on Dvorak’s “Rusalka” follows {…}
Vocal Arts DC has announced its 2023-24 season, which will feature some of opera’s biggest stars. It all kicks off with a recital featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo and Bryan Wagorn performing songs and cantatas. Performance Date: Sept. 21, 2023 Next up is Jonah Hoskins and pianist William Woodard presenting a program of music by Heggie, Lee Hoiby, and Erike Satie. {…}
The Dutch National Opera is set to present a new production of Dvořák’s “Rusalka.” The production will be directed by Philipp Stölzl, who is having a career in film as well as opera. He will present a new reading of this dark fairy tale about the ill-fated water nymph. His Rusalka will center on a woman who is hoping to make {…}