(Credit: Lorenzo Poli) Soprano Genia Kühmeier has withdrawn from the upcoming new production of Mozart and Da Ponte’s “Così fan tutte” at the Wiener Staatsoper due to the personal reasons, according to an official statement on the company’s website. As a result, soprano Mariangela Sicilia will perform the role of Fiordiligi in what will be her Wiener Staatsoper debut. Sicilia {…}
Musikverein Wien has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal performances. Martin Haselböck will lead the Orchester Wiener Akademie in a performance of various works by Franz Schubert as well as Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. Baritone Thomas Hampson will be featured. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2019 Bass Günther Groissböck and {…}
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring a number of important soloists and important works. For this season announcement, we will only focus on vocal showcases or programs related to opera in any way. Here is a look. Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 as well as Joyce DiDonato in {…}
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 {…}
Riccardo Muti is one of the greatest conductors that the opera world has known. Known for his domination of the Italian repertoire and his strict adherence to the score, Muti has carved out a musical legacy across two continents that few before or after him can claim. In celebrating his birthday on July 28, we have concocted a little quiz {…}
Few conductors have had such enduring and impactful careers as Italian maestro Riccardo Muti. Born on July 28, 1941, the conductor studied composition and conducting at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and would eventually work his way to principal conductor and music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Since then Muti has been everywhere. He was the music director {…}
The Teatro San Carlo has announced its 2018-19 season. The season will include some of the biggest stars in opera as well as some rare gems. Here is a look at what San Carlo will offer operagoers next season. Productions Riccardo Muti conducts the opening night with a new production by Chiara Muti of Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte.” Alessio Arduini, {…}
Celebrating 60 years of the Chicago Symphony Chorus was no easy task given the unit’s reputation for quality. That anniversary was marked this past weekend with a program highlighted by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus putting forth an absolutely sublime Schubert Mass in E-Flat major. The three-part program began with maestro Riccardo Muti and the CSO performing the overture {…}
At the start of Rossini’s “Semiramide,” Arsace returns to Babylon after a long time away. For years, Elizabeth DeShong has been a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera singing in such operas as “La Rondine,” “Aida,” “The Enchanted Island,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Madama Butterfly,” and “Lulu.” Then after the 2015-16 season, she did not return until now to take on {…}
Riccardo Muti will return to the Vienna State Opera for the first time in 12 years. During a press conference at the historic Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Director of the Vienna State Opera, Dominique Meyer, along with the General Director and the Artistic Director of the Teatro San Carlo Rosanna Purchia and Paolo Pinamonti announced a joint project {…}
Salzburg Festival is about luxury. The audience is filled with celebrities, the casts are filled with stars, and the (relatively) higher priced tickets, all show its luxury. Yet, what defines its luxury, for me, is its long rehearsal period. When Anna Netrebko said in an interview how she wanted more rehearsals and Riccardo Muti said “preparing an opera the way {…}