Lucy Crowe has withdrawn from tonight’s performance of “Rigoletto.” The Royal Opera House announced that due to illness Crowe would not sing the Jan. 4 performance. As a result, Spanish soprano Sabina Puértolas will take over. Puértolas made her Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Lisette in “La rondine” and has since returned to sing Despina in “Così fan tutte.” She recently {…}
There was a big scare at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, but it all ended happily for all involved. According to the Evening Standard, hundreds of audience members were evacuated from the famed opera house when a suspicious package was found. Right after the last act of “Rigoletto,” the theater ordered audience members {…}
In the beginning of the 20th-century there was a snootiness about verismo opera. All of its propagators – Puccini, Giordano, Mascagni, among others – were accused of simplifying opera by eliminating many of its challenges. Those long showy lines of coloratura were long gone. In place of it, the singers began interspersing notes and passages with great long sighs or {…}
“Bleakness” would be best used to describe the ambience of this by now well known Royal Opera House revival: David McVicar’s “Rigoletto”. Originally mounted in 2001, it was first publicized as an audacious, controversial exposé of sixteenth-century Mantuan aristocracy; the kind of risky spectacle of which Verdi – plagued chronically by problems with his censors – could have only dreamed. {…}
We are in the midst of holiday season and the opera houses in Europe are going as strong as ever. This week, we feature a company opening its season, among many other distinguished performances. Let’s take a look. Der Rosenkavalier – Vienna State Opera On Saturday, opera lovers in Vienna will get a chance to hear the Strauss masterpiece in {…}
This Thursday, Dec. 14, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden kicks off its revival of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The production will get a total of nine performances, the final one taking place on Jan. 16, 2018. There will be cast variations throughout, though there will be a consistent crop of artists for most of the performances. Here is a look through {…}
This Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden opens its production of the famed Italian double bill often known as “CavPag.” “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci” will get 11 performances this season with the final one slated for Jan. 13, 2018, almost a month-and-a-half after it opens its run. Here are reasons to see this year’s “CavPag” at {…}
Michele Pertusi has withdrawn from singing the role of Assur in The Royal Opera’s “Semiramide” As a result, the role will now be sung by Mirco Palazzi. Palazzi has previously sung the role of Assur for Opera di Firenze, Opéra de Bordeaux and at a concert performance with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Mark Elder at the {…}
The Loesje Sanders agency has announced the untimely death of designer Paul Brown on November 13th, 2017. Born in Glamorgan, South Wales, Brown made his debut with the Royal Opera House in 1991 for Graham Vick’s production of “Mitridate, re di Ponto.” With the Royal Opera House, he has also designed sets for “The Midsummer Marriage,” “Falstaff,” “King Arthur,” as {…}
In a bold move, the Royal Opera House will showcase a rare production of “La Tragedie de Carmen” between Nov. 3 and Nov 14 at Wilton’s Music Hall. The opera, which uses passages from Bizet’s famous score is actually a reworking of the story to showcase a different angle that some purport is closer in line with the original novella {…}
Soprano Lisette Oropesa is one of the most exciting artists in the world. At just 34, the New Orleans native has already had a storied career, winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at the age of 22, rising through the ranks of the Met Lindemann Young Artist Program, and then going on to sing at all the major houses {…}
