(Source: Vienna State Opera Official Website) The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that Paolo Rumetz will be singing the Jan. 7 and 10 performances of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” taking over for Wolfgang Bankl. Rumetz, who will take on the role of Don Bartolo, will join a cast led by Pavel Kolgatin as Almaviva, Tara Erraught as Rosina, Adam Plachetka {…}
(Credit: Yasuko Kageyama) Damiano Michieletto is one of the most sought after directors today. Born in Venice, he graduated in modern literature at the Venice University and then went on to study theatre and opera production at the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Art in Milan. Success would follow him soon after when he debuted in 2003 at the Wexford {…}
(Photo: Clive Barda) Anyone who was fortunate enough to attend a performance of Rossini’s one act farsa “Adina” at this year’s Wexford Festival Opera, or managed to catch the broadcast on RTE’s Lyric FM could not fail to have been enthused by mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly’s stunning interpretation in the title role. Since impressing on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) OperaVision will showcase Rossini’s “Ermione” live from the Teatro di San Carlo on Nov. 9, 2019. The production will star soprano Angela Meade in the lead role with Teresa Iervolino, John Irvin, Antonino Siragusa, Filippo Adami, Guido Loconsolo, Gaia Petrone, Chiara Tirotta, and Christiano Oliveri among the major cast members. Alessandro De Marchi will conduct a production {…}
(Photos: Clive Barda) With a running time of about one hour 20 minutes, Rossini’s “Adina” is a little too short to justify presenting on its own, especially if the intention is to charge full ticket prices. But then, if it is going to be staged as part of a double bill, the question arises, with what? It is not as {…}
Let’s face it: operatic comedy is extremely hard to pull off. When was the last time you saw a comic opera production that was truly, authentically funny? Australian stage director Lindy Hume came about as close as one can to achieving this in Seattle in 2016 with her outlandish “Le Comte Ory” (retitled for marketing purposes as “The Wicked Adventures {…}
(Credit: Fay Fox) The Opera Buffs have announced Rossini’s comic opera, “La Cenerentola,” as their 2019 Opera in Concert. Performed on Sunday, December 8, 2019 at The Colburn School’s Zipper Hall, the cast for the Rossini classic will include Katherine Beck as Cinderella, Randall Bills as Prince Ramiro, Efrain Solis as Dandini, and Jose Luis Maldonado as Don Magnifico, with {…}
Opera composers are among the most admired artists of all time. All of them had unique personalities and letters and quotes gathered throughout the years have illuminated us about who they were and how they thoughts. So for this week’s quiz we will take a look at some of the iconic quotes from some of those great composers. Some quotes {…}
Rossini is one of opera’s most popular composer and throughout the past centuries, his works have given the world a plethora of an incredible interpreters. Today, Rossini’s popularity is as big as ever with an increased number of devotees and interpreters tackling not only his most famous operas, but some of his rare gems. Italian bass Carlo Lepore is one {…}
This week features three major releases. Among them will be solo album debuts and one very intriguing world premiere that should spark the interest of contemporary opera lovers. P R I S I M Composer and sound artist Ellen Reid’s opera “p r i s m” is set to be released by Decca Gold. The opera, with a libretto by Roxie Perkins, was commissioned {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) Over the last few years, Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell,” which had its world premiere on August 3, 1829, has seen its popularity slowly increase. In fact, many are starting to see it as one of, if not the best, of Rossini’s operas. But the opera remains a mystery to many and in an attempt to {…}