Jonas Kaufmann, Cecilia Bartoli, Marina Rebeka, Karita Mattila, Benjamin Appl, Rolando Villazón, & Elsa Dreisig Lead Elbphilharmonie Hamburg’s 2025-26 Season

The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances for the season. The Symphoniker Hamburg, alongside Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg and Knabenchor Hannover, perform Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem. Mandy Fredrich and Isabelle Huppert are the soloists with Lucie Leguay conducting. Performance Date: August 22 & 23, 2025 Manuel Winckhler, Mauro Peter, Kathryn Lewek, Elsa Dreisig, Äneas {…}

Apr 23, 2025

Sonya Yoncheva, Juan Diego Flórez, Rolando Villazón, Sir Bryn Terfel Headline Rolex Ambassador’s Concert at Opéra National de Paris

The Opéra National de Paris will showcase a concert of Rolex ambassadors on May 11, 2025. The event will feature Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in its Paris Opera debut. Soloists include Sonya Yoncheva, Juan Diego Flórez, Rolando Villazón, Sir Bryn Terfel, and pianist Yuja Wang. Yoncheva will perform the Habanera from “Carmen,” while Flórez takes on “Salut, {…}

Mar 16, 2025

Jonas Kaufmann, Sonya Yoncheva, Diana Damrau, Rolando Villazon, Asmik Grigorian, Ludovic Tézier, Jonathan Tetelman, Serena Sáenz & Sondra Radvanovsky Lead Bayerische Staatsoper’s 2025-26 Season

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 {…}

Dec 31, 2024

Best of 2024: Most Read Articles on OperaWire This Year

As we wrap up 2024, here is a look back at some of the most-read articles of 2023. We will focus mainly on longer-form pieces like reviews and interviews for this article. Top 10 Most-Read Reviews of 2024 Metropolitan Opera Review of “Carmen“ Metropolitan Opera Review of “La Forza del Destino“ Metropolitan Opera Review of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” Metropolitan Opera {…}

Nov 29, 2024

Rolando Villazon, Ying Fang, Fatma Said, Benjamin Appl & Lea Desandre Lead Dresdner Musikfestspiele’s 2025 Season

The Dresdner Musikfestspiele has announced the 2025 season with the theme of “LOVE.” For this article, we will focus on the vocal performances. Fabio Luisi NHK Symphony Orchestra is set to join perform Haydn and Mahler with Ying Fang and Jan Vogler. Performance Date: May 18, 2025 The works by Arvo Pärt will be performed by Kadri Toomoja and the {…}

Oct 28, 2024

Piotr Beczala, Sonya Yoncheva, Rolando Villazon & Joyce DiDonato Lead ‘Hidden Voices’ Series’ 2024-25 Season

SY1 has announced its 2024-25 season entitled “Hidden Voices” featuring a star-studded lineup of singers. The first concert will feature Sonay Yoncheva in the program “On One Star” featuring compositions by notable Italian composers. Performance Date: Dec. 3, 2024 Polish Tenor Piotr Beczala will perform a concert entitled “Romance.” Performance Date: March 19, 2025 Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón will visit Sofia {…}

Oct 23, 2024

Jonas Kaufmann, Diana Damrau, Sonya Yoncheva, Rolando Villazón, Jonathan Tetelman & Aigul Akhmetshina Lead Festspielhaus Baden-Baden’s 2025 Season

The Festspielhaus Baden-Baden has announced its 2025 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Camilla Nylund, Andreas Schager, and Pietari Inkinen perform an evening of Wagner, Strauss, Kálmán, Lehar, Performance Dates: Jan. 12, 2025 Zum Rahmenprogramm des Festivals Gianandrea Noseda, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, and Philharmonia Zürich lead an all-Strauss program. Performance Dates: Feb. 22, 2025 Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler’s {…}

Oct 7, 2024

Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival Announces 2025 Season

The 29th Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival has released the details of its 2025 season, titled “Liberated Time.” For the purposes of this article only vocal performances are included. Soprano Eleanor Lyons, mezzo-soprano Sophie Harmsen, tenor Benjamin Hulett, and bass Johannes Kammler with the Collegium Vocale Gent present works by Eisler and Beethoven. They are accompanied by the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées under {…}

Jul 8, 2024

Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón & Piotr Beczała Lead ‘Masters of Classic’s’ First Season

A new festival, “Masters of Classic,” will celebrate its first year in Bucharest, Romania with a star-studded lineup. The festival will occur between Sept. 1 and 15, 2024 at the Sala Palatului and the National Opera House in Bucharest. For this article, vocal performances will be emphasized. The season opens with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov performing in concert. Performance {…}

May 17, 2024

Sonya Yoncheva, Iestyn Davies, Juan Diego Flórez, Lauren Snouffer, Rolando Villazón Headline Salzburg Mozarteum’s 2025 Season

The Salzburg Mozarteum has unveiled its 2025 season. Here is a rundown of the vocal performances on offer. First up is a program featuring soprano Lauren Snouffer taking on arias by Haydn and Mozart. The program, which will be conducted by Roberto González-Monjas, will also include works by Gluck and Salieri. Performance Date: Jan. 23, 2025 Michael Shade headlines a concert {…}

Apr 18, 2024

Golda Schultz, Michael Volle & Rolando Villazón Lead New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week audiences will get to explore a new album by one of the most acclaimed Mozart sopranos of our time and a new Ring Cycle. There are some rarely performed composers being explored. La Serenissima Composer and vocalist Esbe will release her {…}