On a blustery, grey, rather tired, Saturday afternoon, an exciting new initiative broke melodious ground under the ambiguous yet all-consuming gaze of a knitted Christ on the cross in the makeshift Parisian salon of Sweden’s Royal Art Academy’s auditorium. An unadorned harpsichord on a carpeted platform and a chair and stand for the recorder player were surrounded by a semi-circular {…}
Opera Lafayette is set to launch “Rameau 350,” a multiyear rediscovery project devoted to the operas of Jean Philippe Rameau. The project will commence in November 2026 and runs through the composer’s 350th birth anniversary in 2033. The project opens with the modern world premiere of the original 1748 version of “Les Surprises de l’Amour.” Chas Rader Sheiber directs the {…}
Kentucky Opera is set to present a reimagining of Rameau’s “Pygmalion” starting on April 4. For four performances, audiences will experience the famed work in a production that takes it to the 1950s with an all-new libretto by Barbara Lynne Jamison, the company’s General Director and CEO. “The story of Pygmalion is a timeless exploration of creation and transformation,” said {…}
Göteborg Opera is set to present Rameau’s “Platée” in a new production by Andreas Kriegenburg. The new take on the Rameau work will open on March 16 and runs through April 18, 2024. It stars Kristian Lindroos, Wiktor Sundqvist, Carolina Sandgren, Hannes Öberg, Mia Karlsson, Anders J Dahlin, Mattias Ermedahl, Sofie Asplund, and Ann-Kristin Jones. Kriegenburg’s production will feature set {…}
The Orchestra de l’Agora will present “Enfers des Lumières” on March 1 and 2, 2022. The showcase, which will feature music by Lully, Rameau and Gluck (and others), will be headlined by 10 solo artists from the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, under the direction of Nicolas Ellis. The artists featured include tenor Marc-Antoine Brûle, soprano Vanessa Croome, soprano {…}
Marie Antoinette managed to make both the palatine, French nobility, the bourgeoise and the working-class revile her before the end of her tumultuous reign as queen to the last king of the House of Bourbon. She has been since depicted as a foreign intruder who shamelessly feasted on the sumptuous trappings of aristocratic life with almost immoral gluttony. The common {…}
(Credits: Ensemble Regards / Bach Collegium Paris / Charles Mignot) Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s opera “L’Actéon” will be streamed on ARTE TV on Feb. 16, 2021. “L’Actéon,” a Pastorale in the form of a miniature tragédie en musique in six scenes, stars mezzo-soprano Marielou Jacquard in the role of Junon, soprano Adèle Carlier as Diane, and bass Constantin Goubet in the title {…}
( Credit: Gunnar Geller) The Komische Oper Berlin has announced that it will remain shut down until at least Easter 2021, due to continued concerns over the spread of COVID-19. The opera house has officially stated that the productions of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Les Boréades,” George Enescu’ s “Œdipe,” and Jacques Offenbach’s opera “Orphée aux enfers” will be postponed until future {…}
(Credit: Kevin Yatarola) Celebrated conductor Sir Simon Rattle has been appointed the new Chief Conductor of the Chor and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Rattle will begin his five-year tenure in 2023. The famed conductor served as the Chief Conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker until 2018, and currently holds the position of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. “Bayerischer Rundfunk {…}
(Credit: Opéra Comique) The Opéra Comique in Paris has rescheduled the performance dates and times of Philippe Rameau’s opera “Hippolyte et Aricie,” in order to comply with the Presidential order regarding the overnight curfew in the next four weeks. The production, which was originally slated to run between Nov. 12 and Dec. 12, 2020, will be redesigned to begin at {…}
Les Arts Florissants’ 2020 “Dans Les Jardins de William Christie” Festival opened in Thiré, France on August 22 with a performance of Handel’s “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” the composer’s pastoral based on the poetry of John Milton. The production kicked off the annual event that combines the thrilling beauty of Baroque music and the art of gardens. The {…}