Renée Fleming, Angel Blue & Anna Caterina Antonacci Headline Washington National Opera’s 2020-21 Season

(Credit: Washington National Opera) The Washington National Opera has announced its 2020–2021 season offering up some ambitious repertoire. The season with WNO’s new production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Robert Spano makes his WNO debut conducting a cast that includes Elza van den Heever, Brandon Jovanovich, Brian Mulligan, Ryan Speedo Green, Joshua Blue, and Eric Owens. Performance Dates: Oct. 24–Nov. 9, 202o {…}

Nov 13, 2019

Anna Netrebko, Cecilia Bartoli & Plácido Domingo To Headline Salzburg Festival’s 2020 Season

The Salzburg Festival has announced its 2020 season celebrating its 100th anniversary with a number of operatic productions from many repertory staples and numerous rarely performed gems. Here is a look at the operatic works to be performed. Opera Franz Welser-Möst is set to conduct a new production of R. Strauss’ “Elektra” with Krzysztof Warlikowski. Aušrine Stundyte sings the title {…}

Oct 20, 2019

Komische Oper Berlin 2019-20 Review: The Bassarids

Written after Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy “The Bacchae,” “The Bassarids” is essentially a one-act opera with intermezzo. It was composed by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by Wystan Hugh Auden and Chester Kallman (who also jointly wrote the libretto for opera “The Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravinsky). The opera had its world premiere in Salzburg on August 6, {…}

Oct 7, 2019

Watch Barrie Kosky’s ‘The Bassarids’ From Komische Opera Berlin On OperaVision

OperaVision is set to stream “The Bassarids” from the Komische Oper Berlin on its channel on Oct. 13, 2019. The Henze opera will star Sean Panikkar, Günter Papandell, Jens Larsen, Ivan Turšić, Tom Erik Lie, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Vera-Lotte Böcker, and Margarita Nekrasova. Vladimir Jurowski conducts a production by Barrie Kosky. The stream kicks off at 6 p.m. local time. {…}

Sep 18, 2019

Corinne Winters & Ermonela Jaho Headline New CD/DVD Releases – September 16

This week, three rarities will be released on DVD and CD. One is a world premiere recording while the other two come from successful productions in 2018-19. Here is a look! The Bassarids Sean Panikkar stars in Henze’s opera that premiered last year at the Salzburg Festival. Arthaus Musik releases the new DVD, also starring Russell Braun, Nikolai Schukoff, and {…}

Jul 10, 2019

Arte To Stream ‘Rise & Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny’ From Festival D’Aix-En-Provence

(Credit: Festival D’aix-En-Provence) On July 11, 2019, Arte is set to stream to Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” from the Festival D’Aix-En-Provence. The new production by Ivo van Hove, which is set to make its way to the Metropolitan Opera, stars Karita Mattila, Alan Oke, Sir Willard White, Annette Dasch, Nikolai Schukoff, Sean Panikkar, Thomas Oliemans, and Peixin Chen. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the {…}

Apr 29, 2019

10 Must See Operas For The Summer Season 2019[International Edition]

As the 2018-19 season comes to an end, we start to look at the summer festival season where the big stars and anticipated productions are set to make waves. With a ton of selections to choose from, we eventually whittled it down to the 10 Must-See productions that cannot be missed this summer. Take a look. 10. Il Trovatore – Arena {…}

Apr 18, 2019

Sean Panikkar, Anne Sofie von Otter & Leonardo Capalbo Lead Komische Oper Berlin’s 2019-20 Season

Komische Oper Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season. This season will celebrate Dionysus, the forefather and protagonist of Greek theatre, with new productions reflecting the entire spectrum of musical theatre. Chief Director Barrie Kosky comments, “. . . [O]nce we believe in the power of theatre and music, believe in their intoxicating, seductive, physical, emotional, and ultimately community-building impacts, once {…}

Feb 16, 2019

Plácido Domingo, Marina Rebeka & Rolando Villazón Highlight Hamburg State Opera’s 2019-20 Season

The Hamburg State Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring six new productions and a number of revivals. There is also a mix of contemporary repertoire with classic and repertory staples. Here is a look at what to expect. New Productions Elbenita Kajtazi, Renate Spingler, Hellen Kwon, Peter Galliard, Stefan Sevenich, Iwan Iwanowitsch, and Julian Arsenault star in a new production of Shostakovich’s “The {…}

Jan 18, 2019

Nicole Cabell & Sean Panikkar Headline Pittsburgh Opera’ ‘La Bohème’

Pittsburgh Opera will revive Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The production, which is set to star Nicole Cabell as Mimì and Sean Pannikar as Rodolfo, will be conducted by Jean-Luc Tingaud and directed by Stephanie Havey. The two lead singers in this production are both veterans of TV singing competitions. Panikkar, a Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist alum, was a star on America’s Got Talent {…}

Nov 17, 2018

Los Angeles Opera 2018-19 Review: Satyagraha

I once saw an evening of Kathakali theater, a kind of folk opera of southern India. I would probably not have understood much of what was going on in “The Killing of Dushasana” had I not read the program booklet beforehand. Even so, after the first scene my regular biases for dialectic drama vanished and I was hooked, overwhelmed by {…}