(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 {…}
San Francisco Performances has unveiled its 2023-24 season. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be solely on vocal performances. Tenor Ian Bostridge will perform Schubert’s “Winterreise.” Performance Date: Oct. 21, 2023 Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis will present a program featuring the music of Amy Beach, Wagner, Melissa Dunphy, Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, Maria Thompson Corley, and Peter Ashbourne. {…}
LA Philharmonic has announced its 2023-24 season, which will celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary at Disney Hall. Special guest singers join Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil to celebrate iconic protest music by Latina artists with “Canto en resistencia.” Silvana Estrada is the soloist. Performance Dates: Nov. 9-12, 2023 Esa-Pekka Salonen leads Los Angeles Master Chorale in Salonen’s “Karawane” and {…}
Opera Philadelphia has announced its 2023-24 season. Dubbed Festival 023, the company will bring music to venues around the city. The following productions are included in the Festival. The world premiere of composer Rene Orth and librettist Hannah Moscovitch’s “Ten Days in a Madhouse,” starring Kiera Duffy, Will Liverman, and Raehann Bryce-Davis. Joanna Settle directs, and Daniela Candillari conducts. The work is co-commissioned {…}
Terrance McKnight, commentator, curator, writer, author, pianist, and the weekday evening host of New York’s classical station WQXR will present a new podcast series, “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight.” The series will feature 16 episodes and debut on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. The series highlights voices, histories, and marginalized communities that have been left out of Western classical music. In the first four {…}
Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis is a soulful voice of triumph, transformation, and timeless wisdom. With notable house and role debuts, including the Met Opera, as Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress,” she is a 2018 recipient of the prestigious George London Award at the George London Competition. Her recital on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022 at The Morgan Library & {…}
Raehann Bryce-Davis is set to open the George London Foundation for Singers 2022-23 season. The mezzo will perform a recital on Oct. 2 at the Morgan Library & Museum. The showcase will feature Amy Beach’s “Three Browning Songs;” Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder;” three songs from Peter Ashbourne’s “Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart,” based on Jamaican folk songs; songs by Melissa {…}
