Royal Opera House 2023-24 Review: ‘Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci’

(Photo: Marc Brenner) They go together like cookies and milk…like bacon and eggs…like Adam and Eve! Nooooooo! Not “Cav” and “Pag,” as the fans insist on calling the operas, but Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak! The golden couple, currently on at the Royal Opera House in “Cavalleria Rusticana,” consolidated their positions as world class artists here with spellbinding performances from {…}

Callas Casual: An Off-Duty-ish Day in the Company of La Divina

(Callas enshrouded in reporters. Credit: Maurice Zalewski/ADOC photos)   Vignettes of onstage outtakes are aplenty. Daily shots of the soprano, less so. Here’s a peek into Maria’s typical excursions—culinary and sartorial; social and cultural—on a work(not really)less day. Coruscating like the crystalline intrusion of a cocktail dress’ brooch asparkle in a parking lot; a spotlight pooling blindness onto “Poliuto”‘s Paolina; {…}

Starring ‘The Inalienable Property of Genius’: Maria Callas’ Celestial Onstage Quests

(Callas greeting fans. Credit: © Archiv Lebeck.) Editor’s Note: In anticipation of the release of  “The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography” on  Dec. 2, 2023, OperaWire is sharing a preview. “Greatness” is a noun too frequently assigned to humans.  Victims of this label view the happening of “genius” as a capricious, “limited time only” gift. Here we follow Callas on {…}

Royal Opera House’s General Director Addresses Collaboration with Anna Netrebko in Salzburg

The Royal Opera House’s General Director Oliver Mears is addressing his upcoming collaboration with Anna Netrebko at the Salzburg Easter Festival and her relationship with the Royal Opera House. In a recent interview with the Times UK, Mears defended Netrebko’s March 2022 statement noting, “She has made a very clear statement condemning the war in Ukraine. Tony (Antonio Pappano) and {…}