René Barbera has canceled his BBC Proms debut due to illness. The tenor was set to sing Rossini’s Stabat Mater. In a statement he said, “Unfortunately, I won’t be making my BBC Proms debut this Friday as planned. I’ve been dealing with a stubborn cough over the past several days, and despite treatment it’s taking a little longer than expected {…}
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma has announced its 2026-27 season. Opera The season opens with Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” with Michele Mariotti conducting a new production byRafael R. Villalobos.The cast includes Lawrence Brownlee, Jennifer Larmore,Daniela Barcellona, Alex Esposito, Rosalia Cid, Simone Alberghini, and Ya-Chung Huang. Performance Dates: Nov. 27-Dec. 5, 2026 Two cast will perform Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier.” Sonya Yoncheva, {…}
The BBC Proms has announced its 2026 season. Here are the vocal performances. The festival opens on with pianist Yunchan Lim and tenor Thomas Atkins joining Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for music by Ravel, Copland, Gershwin and Finzi. There will also be a world premiere by Josephine Stephenson. Performance Date: July 17, 2026 Gianandrea Noseda leads Beethoven’s Symphony {…}
The Arena di Verona has announced its 2026 season. The season will open with a new production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” Michele Spotti and Francesco Ivan Ciampa conduct the new production starring Martina Russomanno, Gilda Fiume and Rosa Feola. The casts also include Yusif Eyvazov, Galeano Salas, Francesco Meli, René Barbera, Adam Smith, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Mihai Damian, Youngjun Park, Ludovic {…}
The Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires has announces its 2026 season. Opera Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci“ and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana“ will open the season with a cast that includes Yonghoon Lee, Denis Pivnitsky, Alejandro Roy, María Belén Rivarola, Fabián Veloz, Youngjun Park, Diego Bento, Liudmyla Monastyrska, and Mónica Ferracani. Beatrice Venezi conducts the production by Hugo de Ana. Performance Dates: April 14-24, 2026 Oscar Strasnoy’s “Dementia” will make {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Riccardo Frizza conducting Cherubini’s “Medea” in a production by Mario Martone. Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role alongside Francesco Meli, Giorgi Manoshvili, Désirée Giove, and Anita Rachvelishvili. Performance Dates: Dec. 3-16, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Maria Agresta, Désirée Giove, Francesco Demuro, and Mimmo Borrelli star in Ennio {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced its streaming slate of recent productions. The company had previously announced a slate of operas to stream this summer, mainly those from its 2024-25 season. First up is the October 2022 production of “Rigoletto” starring George Gagnidze in the title role, Madison Leonard as his daughter Gilda, and René Barbera as the Duke of Mantua. {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Maurizio Benini conducts Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in a new production by Barbara Wysocka. Bekhzod Davronov, Igor Golovatenko, Ludovic Tézier, Serena Sáenz, Nadine Sierra, Riccardo Fassi, and Elmina Hasan star. Performance Dates: March 7-24, 2026 & July 28 & 31, 2026 Lotte de Beer directs a new production of Gounod’s “Faust” with Jonathan {…}
The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced its 2025-26 season. Premieres Robert Schumann’s “Das Paradies und die Peri” will be directed by Tobias Kratzer and conducted by Omer Meir Wellber and Felix Hornbachner. The work will star Vera-Lotte Boecker, Eliza Boom, Kady Evanyshyn, Kai Kluge, Annika Schlicht, Xavier Sabata, Eric Lunga Hallam, and Christoph Pohl. Performance Dates: Sept. 27-Nov. 1, 2025 Glinka’s “Ruslan und Ljudmila” will be {…}
(Photo by Rikimaru Hotta) The New National Theatre Tokyo is on the rise. Fresh off its announcement earlier this year that the company would be hosting the 2028 World Opera Forum, the organization has committed to expanding its repertory in recent seasons, taking on increasingly ambitious projects, oftentimes in collaboration with the major opera houses around the world. Over the {…}
(Credit: Anna Barbera) René Barbera has been awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. In a statement the tenor said, “Through this award, intended to reward those who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the cultural spheres, or by their support for the distribution of knowledge and works {…}