Celso Albelo has canceled his participation in Opera Rara’s performances of Donizetti’s “Il Paria.” The work, which is scheduled to be performed at the Barbican Theatre on June 8, will now star René Barbera. The tenor will join a cast that includes Albina Shagimuratova, Misha Kiria, and Marko Mimica with Sir Mark Elder conducting the performance. The Britten Sinfonia and the {…}
The Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia has announced its 2019-20 season featuring some of the world’s most renowned soloists. For this article we will only focus on the concert featuring vocal performances. The season opens with Antonio Pappano conducting Javier Camarena in Berlioz’s Requiem “Grande Messe des morts.” Performance Dates: Oct. 10-12, 2019 Mikko Franck conducts Verdi’s Messa da Requiem {…}
For a big chunk of the world, this weekend is all about the “Avengers: Endgame.” But that doesn’t mean there won’t be time to head over to the opera house. So here’s the five operas we highly recommend for opera lovers still planning on having their weekend dose of their favorite artform. Ariadne Auf Naxos – Teatro alla Scala, Italy {…}
The Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege has announced its 2019-20 season featuring nine operas, six of which are new productions. Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” opens the season in a new production by Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera. Two casts will be led under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, featuring Svetlana Aksenova and Yasko Sato sharing the title role, Alexey Dolgov and Dominick Chenes {…}
The Festival Castel Peralada has announced its 2019 slate. The festival will feature a number of performances from many different musical genres, but the emphasis here will be on vocal performances or operas. Things kick off with the world prmeiere of “Dialègs de Tirant e Carmesina,” a new chamber opera with music by Joan Magrané and a libretto by March {…}
This week’s CD releases feature a new album from a famed Hungarian artist alongside a number of releases from Naxos for your viewing pleasure. Giants, tragedians, comedians, heroes Levente Molnar releases his first solo album on Universal. The CD entitled “Giants, tragedians, comedians, heroes” includes 13 arias from “Bank Ban,” “Pagliacci,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Rigoletto,” “Falstaff,” “Andrea Chénier,” and {…}
This week there are a number of new productions as well as classic works being performed. There is also one opera that is being showcased in two different theaters with two all-star casts; it is for this reason that we simply could not overlook it. Check out our recommendations in alphabetical order by company. Karl V – Bayerische Staatsoper, Germany {…}
The New National Theatre, Tokyo has announced its 2019-20 opera season! Ten operas, including four new productions, are included in the lineup. The season will feature classics of the Baroque, Russian, and bel canto repertoire. Dmitry Bertman’s new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” will kick off the opera season, and will feature Vasily Ladyuk in the title role alongside Evgenia {…}
The Semperoper Dresden has announced a number of cast changes for its two Dec. 31 performances of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The company announced that for its 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. showcases mezzo Jelena Kordić will step in for Grace Durham in the role of Flora Bervoix. The company also announces that tenor René Barbera will return to the company {…}
This weekend it was hard to pick five operas to see as there are many great performers and works being shown around the world. As a result, we have chosen eight works both popular and some rarely performed that we believe are must-sees. Here is a look and enjoy! Norma – Teatro Colón, Argentina Anna Pirozzi stars in the Mount {…}
An audience favorite for the ages, Gioachino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” has seen numerous iterations over the years. The young Dutch director Lotte de Beer’s new production at Dutch National Opera is a French Revolution-themed affair that focuses on the female perspective via Rosina. In the beginning, we see the young Rosina denied a cupcake by Doctor Bartolo in {…}