(Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic) It is rare these days for a director and their team to allow an opera to emerge solely from its score and text without the need to impose their own reading, offer a new twist, introduce wonderful stage effects, or succumb to the temptation of placing it in a new setting. In fact, to do otherwise is {…}
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a breakdown of the vocal performances on offer. Dinis Sousa conducts the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Massed Musical Forces of the North East in Tippett’s “A Child of Our Time.” Soloists include Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Dame Sarah Connolly, Nicky Spence, and Willard White. Performance Date: Nov. 24, 2024 {…}
The Scottish Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera The season opens with Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” with Stuart Stratford conducting and Roxana Haines directing. The cast will include Shengzhi Ren, Kitty Whately, Roland Wood, Callum Thorpe, Seumas Begg, and Emyr Wyn Jones. Performance Dates: August 12-19, 2024 Britten’s “Albert Herring” will be conducted by William Cole and directed by Daisy {…}
Opera North has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” with Claire Lees, Soraya Mafi, Egor Zhuravskii, Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, Anna Dennis, Msimelelo Mbali, Justin Hopkins, Emyr Wyn Jones, Pasquale Orchard, Colin Judson, and Andri Björn Róbertsson. Christoph Koncz, Patrick Lange, and Emilia Hoving share the podium and James Brining directs. Performance Dates: Sept. 27, {…}
(Photo: James Glossop) Any forward-looking opera company surely must play its part in keeping the artform alive. While there must be a place for the staple repertoire, an over-reliance on the likes of Puccini, Verdi, and Mozart not only contains an element of the parasitic but also displays a mentality of unadventurous programming that will ultimately sap the energy from {…}
The Scottish Opera has announced its 2023-24 season. Opera Samuel Dale Johnson, Simone McIntosh, Anthony Gregory, David Stout, and Dingle Yandell star in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” Stuart Stratford conducts the production by Sir Thomas Allen. Performance Dates: Oct. 17-Nov. 25, 2023 Jonathan Dive’s “Marx in London” will be conducted by David Parry and directed by Stephen Barlow. The {…}
Photo: © Genevieve Girling Christof Loy’s new production of “Tosca” for English National Opera, which first appeared in Helsinki in 2018, replaces Catherine Malfitano’s show, which received two revivals during its tenure and last appeared on the Coliseum stage in 2016. The production sees Leo Hussain return to the Coliseum pit – a distinguished Music Director of Opéra de Rouen and {…}
The Canadian Opera Company’s Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is set to return for the first time in three seasons on Sept. 20, 2022. The company’s 15th season as Toronto’s go-to venue for diverse cultural programming will feature 70 concerts, from September to June, that showcase global and local artists across a variety of genres and disciplines. {…}
The Scottish Opera has announced its 2022-23 season featuring new productions, pop operas, and opera in concert. Opera The season opens with Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” starring Roland Wood, Jonathan McGovern, Zachary Altman, Hye-Youn Lee, Keel Watson, Pablo Bemsch, Shengzhi Ren, Kitty Whately, Lea Shaw, and Emyr Wyn Jones. Stuart Stratford conducts the production by Sir Thomas Allen. Performance Dates: May 28-June {…}
The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2022-23 season featuring seven productions and a world premiere. The season kicks off with Richard Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” directed by Christopher Alden and stars Danish bass-baritone Johan Reuter. The cast also includes Marjorie Owens as Senta, Franz-Josef Selig, Miles Mykkanen, Christopher Ventris, and Rosie Aldridge. COC Music Director Johannes Debus leads the {…}
(Credit: Canadian Opera Company official website) The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2022 January performances and online productions. “Voices of Mountains” features the world premiere of “Fire” by former COC Composer-in-Residence Ian Cusson. Mezzo-sopranos Rebecca Cuddy and Marion Newman perform with pianist Gordon Gerrard. Aria Evans is a dancer and choreographer. Streaming dates: Jan. 15 – June 15, 2022 {…}