Anna Netrebko, Freddie De Tommaso, Marina Rebeka, Bryn Terfel, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lisette Oropesa, Juan Diego Flórez & Pretty Yende Lead Royal Ballet & Opera’s 2025-26 Season

The Royal Ballet and Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. The season opens with Puccini’s “Tosca” in a new production by Oliver Mears. Anna Netrebko and Aleksandra Kurzak share the title role. Freddie De Tommaso and Gerald Finley also star. Performance Dates: Sept. 11-Oct. 7, 2025 Speranza Scappucci conducts Verdi’s “I vespri siciliani” in a revival of Stefan Herheim’s production. Marina {…}

Mar 26, 2025

Royal Opera House 2024-25 Review: Turandot

At the risk of repeating myself, opera should be all about the music and the voice. If I’m ever asked to quantify that statement, I readily proffer “Turandot” in support of my assertions. For here is a ridiculous, cruel, convoluted tale that is impossible to like and grasp, perpetrated by a pair of unpleasant, thoroughly dislikeable characters with, were it {…}

Mar 19, 2025

Gustavo Dudamel, Pretty Yende, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha & Nicholas Brownlee Lead LA Philharmonic’s 2025-26 Season

The LA Philharmonic has announced its 2025-26 season. Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Master Chorale perform Ellen Reid and Strauss. Performance Dates: Sept. 25-28, 2025 Gustavo Dudamel conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with soloists Chen Reiss and Beth Taylor. Performance Dates: Oct. 9-12, 2025 Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts a program of music by Debussy, Gabriella Smith, and Scriabin with soloists Pekka {…}

Jan 30, 2025

Kristine Opolais, Bryn Terfel, Federica Lombardi & Karen Slack Lead Tanglewood Festival’s 2025 Season

(Credit: Boston Symphony Orchestra) The Tanglewood Festival has announced the 2025 season. In a statement by Andris Nelsons, the conductor said, “We are excited for another fantastic summer at Tanglewood, full of exceptional music in the beautiful surroundings of the Berkshires. We are delighted to perform Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ with Kristine Opolais and Bryn Terfel, and excerpts from Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet; with {…}

Jan 3, 2025

Following New Year’s Eve Controversy, Metropolitan Opera Announces Inevitable Cast Change for ‘Aida’

Everyone knows what happened on New Year’s Eve at the Metropolitan Opera. Tenor Piotr Beczala, sick as he was, sang through the entire night, creating an unforgettable experience for all involved, but not of the kind anyone will remember fondly. It was inevitable that he would cancel subsequent shows and that announcement has finally come. The company announced that tenor {…}

Dec 23, 2024

Best of 2024: OperaWire’s Top 11 Singers of the Year

It is time to wrap up the year and look back at our favorite moments and performers. After releasing our favorite performances of 2024 and showcasing our rising stars of the year, it’s time for OperaWire’s annual tradition of naming our top 11 singers of the year, performers that we thought stood out. Performers who had major breaks, headlined major productions or simply had {…}

Dec 12, 2024

Q & A: SeokJong Baek On His Favorite Roles & How His Faith & Voice Transitioned His Opera Career

(Photo: Dahyun Baek) SeokJong Baek’s rise to prominence in the opera world can only be described as meteoric, if not almost difficult to believe. Almost 15 years singing as a baritone, a chance encounter with fellow South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee suggested to him that he might make a better tenor than a baritone. Despite joining the San Francisco Young {…}

Oct 7, 2024

Metropolitan Opera 2024-25 Review: Tosca

(Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) This season’s premiere of Met Opera’s “Tosca” features Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, in the titular role, marking her 100th Met performance. Her Met debut was in 2004 as Olympia in Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and her performances leading up to this season have all been unforgettable, especially Kurzak as Tosca. Her voice alongside tenor {…}

Apr 18, 2024

Leah Hawkins, Maria Brea, Rafael Moras & SeokJong Baek Lead Arizona Opera’s 2024-25 Season

The Arizona Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. The season opens with Arizona Opera’s new “Beyond Downtown” program, the newest evolution of the company’s McDougall RED Series, which will bring operatic performances throughout Arizona, reaching beyond the walls of the theaters in which the company typically performs. Performance Dates: TBD Caitlin Gotimer, SeokJong Baek, Benjamin Taylor, and Emma Marhefka perform {…}

Mar 6, 2024

Sondra Radvanovsky, Simon Keenlyside & Andrè Schuen Lead Salzburg Easter Festival’s 2025 Season

The Salzburg Easter Festival has announced its 2025 season. Modest Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina” will be directed by Simon McBurney and will showcase the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. It will be presented in a version of the unfinished work based solely on the testimonies left behind by Mussorgsky. Performance Dates: TBA Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. {…}

Mar 1, 2024

Metropolitan Opera 2023-2024 Review: Turandot

(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) The 350th performance of “Turandot” at the Met exceeded expectations with Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv and Russian soprano Elena Pankratova making their house debuts and intentionally working together to deliver jaw-dropping moments of overwhelming musical beauty and power. The night also featured remarkable performances by South Korean tenor SeokJong Baek, Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, {…}