It’s week of rarities with two rarely performed works getting new recordings. Here is a look! Margherita d’Anjou Meyerbeer’s little-known work gets a DVD by Dynamic from last year’s Festival della Valle d’Itria. The production was conducted by Fabio Luisi stars Giulia de Blasis and Arcangelo Carbotti. When OperaWire reviewed the show last year it said: “Certainly, it was a well-performed {…}
Rossini’s comedic operas are undeniably the ones for which he is best recognized, but there are a number of Opera Seria that tend to get overlooked when they shouldn’t. One of those is “Semiramide,” an opera long considered one of the composer’s finest and growing in reputation in recent years. In a recent interview with OperaWire, conductor José Miguel Pérez-Sierra {…}
Aside from “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” there is perhaps no more popular opera by Rossini than his interpretation of the immortal Cinderella tale. “Cenerentola” premiered on Jan. 25, 1817, and while it became popular in its early life, it fell out of favor until a Rossini renaissance took place in the second half of the 20th century. Short Plot Summary {…}
We all know about Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini, Bellini, Puccini, Giordano, and the great Italian composers of the 19th century. We often attribute opera’s greatest gems to them, remembering every gorgeous melody and the potent emotions that they create for us. But they don’t deserve all the credit. In fact, without the text, most of these composers don’t write their music. {…}
Juan Diego Flórez is one of the greatest tenors in the world. Of that there can be no doubt. Born on Jan. 13, the tenor has gone on to establish himself at every major opera house in the world in an ever-evolving repertoire that ranges from Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini all the way to the great French composers such as {…}
June Anderson, born on December 30, 1952, authored one of the unique opera careers of the 20th century. The lyric soprano seemed destined for the path often taken, but wound up moving in diverse directions with regards to repertoire. This very aspect was revealed in her becoming the first non-Italian to ever win the prestigious Bellini d’Oro Prize. She sang {…}
When he was to name what would be his great dramatic masterpiece “Otello,” Verdi struggled with the name. He was afraid not of his work being compared to Shakespeare’s immortal play but of having to suffer the consequences of doing battle with Rossini’s original opera on the subject. The master of Pesaro, an idol for the young Verdi, had created {…}
I will kick off this review by noting that it was the first time I had ever seen “Cenerentola” and I was charmed. It was a magical evening, with great music, excellent singing and loads of comedy and stage business. It began with a fine rendering of the overture by the Orchestre Metropolitan conducted by the Spanish conductor Jose Miguel Perez-Sierra. {…}
Is Rossini one of the greatest composers of all time? A critical survey of his work would lead to a mixed answer here. Most would recognize his great achievements as a composer, though many in history also note that his efforts were evolved and superseded by composers that came later. His impact on history is fixed, but his impact today {…}
Vincenzo Bellini isn’t the most revolutionary of opera composers. In fact, his work is rather simple and his operas, most of them featuring questionable libretti, are not necessarily the most complex dramatic works (with the exception of “Norma”). And yet, the composer, born on Nov. 3, 1801, is among the most beloved in the opera world and even earned the {…}
Wexford Festival Opera’s shortworks, performed during the afternoon at White’s, a local hotel, are small-scale productions of known and lesser-known works in a reduced format with piano accompaniment. The aim is to provide an opportunity for festival singers appearing in minor roles or the chorus to showcase their talents in more substantial roles. Of course, it also provides further opportunities {…}