(Photo: Keith Saunders) Opera Australia celebrated its 70th birthday with a revival of Elijah Moshinsky’s 1991 “Rigoletto,” a production that was inspired by Italy’s “La dolce vita” era. Opening night at the Sydney Opera House on July 21st was the company’s actual birthday and the audience was invited to sing “Happy Birthday” at the final curtain call. Such festivities may have {…}
(Photo: Antoine François Prévost’s novel, “The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut,” was published in France in 1731 to great success. Its scandalous subject matter—featuring protagonists who live together out of wedlock, a Manon obsessed with greed to the point of prostitution, and a des Grieux who cheats at cards for money, with both ultimately landing in {…}
Sesto Quatrini and Nino Machaidze are set to perform two “Otello” operas at Oper Frankfurt. Quatrini and Machaidze will first perform Rossini’s work from May 17 to June 15, 2024 and then will move straight into Verdi’s masterwork from June 22 to July 12, 2024. This marks Machaidze’s role debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s opera. She has previously sung Rossini’s {…}
(Photo credit: Clive Barda/Royal Opera House) Nestling zest into impressionable appetites, bel canto master Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore” is a succulent confectioner’s delight: a cavalcade of strawberry and rhubarb shades that never age out of their calorific bubble. High on hyperactive captures of unravelling roulades and supercilious trills, its teasing feast of overblown, meringue-like vows empowers risk-taking directors. Decking his décor {…}
Sesto Quatrini is stepping down as Artistic Director of the Lithuanian National Opera. In an open letter, the conductor said, “On 30th June 2023, my term as artistic director of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre will come to an end. In October 2016, when I was invited to Vilnius to conduct a Kristine Opolais Gala, I could never {…}
Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” is set to open at the Teatro La Fenice. The opera will be conducted by Sesto Quatrini, who has performed the Puccini opus on several occasions. “I love ‘Madama Butterfly’ so much. It’s probably the opera that I’ve seen and heard live the most often. When I was working at the Metropolitan, for two whole seasons I {…}
(Credit: Teatro Carlo Felice) In 2021 the Teatro Carlo Felice Genova Foundation, under the artistic direction of Francesco Meli, launched its Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento, a course aimed at perfecting and consolidating the skills of young professional singers, with lessons in vocal technique, musical interpretation, and theatrical art, under the guidance of internationally renowned artists, which culminated in the opportunity {…}
The Teatro Carlo Felice is set to present Rossini’s “Il Turco in Italia” with Sesto Quatrini conducting. Quatrini noted that the “Genoese production we have chosen specifically to highlight the three levels of interpretation as much as possible, with a light-handed approach…the variations and cadenzas for the soloists and the embellishments for the orchestra solos were composed specially for this {…}
(Credit: Sesto Quatrini Official Website) The Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet are set to present a new production of “La Juive.” The showcase, which will be conducted by Sesto Quatrini, will star Viktorija Miskunaite, Mickael Spadaccini, Mindaugas Jankauskas, and Tomas Pavilions, among others. Performances are set for April 8 and 9, 2022. “I felt it was appropriate to revive such {…}
Rossini’s operatic world is a crossroads of things: the formal conventions of arias, duets, cavatina, patter number, the stock characters of the Commedia dell’arte, a hotchpotch of contemporary patriarchal and orientalist stereotypes, and reheated scenarios from various librettists. How do modern audiences, relatively unmoored from this world, connect with these shows? A Brilliant Production In this new production of “Il {…}
(Credit: Fabrizio-Sansoni) Glyndebourne has announced a major change for its upcoming production of “Il Turco in Italia.” The Rossini opera will now be conducted by Sesto Quatrini, who will make both his Glyndebourne and UK debuts. The conductor will replace Giancarlo Andretta, who is unable to conduct due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions relating to international travel to the UK. Quatrini, {…}