Audiences at the Kennedy Center are voicing their opinions of the new administration with loud boos. On Thursday evening, as Vice President JD Vance and his wife and board member of the Kennedy Center Usha Vance took a seat to hear the National Symphony Orchestra, audience members met him with boos. Crowds could be heard booing and jeering the vice {…}
A new biopic based on the life of Dmitri Shostakovich is set to be filmed in 2025. Hollywood Reporter is reporting that German actor August Diehl and Oscar-nominee actress Andrea Riseborough are set to star in the new film “The Noise of Time.” Christopher Hampton will adapt the novel by Julian Barnes of the same name, while Polish director Jan {…}
Conductor Andris Nelsons, in collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester have announced a Shostakovich Festival in Leipzig scheduled for 2025. From May 15-June 1, 2025, the conductor and ensembles will present all of the famed composer’s symphonic works, concertos, and other major works to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his passing. Additionally, there will be a third orchestra {…}
Teatro Real will make history as the world’s first opera house to present a live opera in the metaverse–an immersive virtual 3D environment where humans can have experiences outside the physical world. On Mar. 17, 2023, at 7:30 pm CET, the company will offer free viewing of Shostakovich’s “The Nose.” Using your avatar, you can watch the Barrie Kosky production {…}
Censorship. Repression. Scorn. Brutality. Humor. Absurdity. Hysteria. Russia’s relationship with self-expression has been a fraught one throughout its tumultuous history. Full of danger and hardship, with no guarantee that your vision will be seen, respected, or even tolerated unless it is confined to authorized narratives, music has always been that one art form whose voice is hard to control and {…}
Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” is a tragic satire that continues to shed light on the very real and present suffering of the human spirit due to ongoing abuse of power and repression. To say this opera is still relevant, is obvious. However, to take it a step further and realize this opera’s history is a warning, reveals Shostakovich’s {…}
(Credits: LA Opera official website / Jan Windszus Photography / Lena Kern / Mark Janssen / Georg Schlosser / In Art Management official website) The Komische Oper Berlin has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is a look at the operatic and vocal performances. Opera – Premieres Enescu’s rarely performed masterwork “Œdipe” opens the season. The opera features Jens Larsen, Joachim {…}
“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This week, we look at Nikolai Gogol’s idiosyncratic, fantastical novella “The Nose” and Dmitri Shostakovich’s equally chaotic opera adaptation. One morning, a barber finds a nose {…}
The Theater Basel has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on opera productions only. Here is a look: Mozart‘s singspiel “Die Zauberflöte” will open the season. The opera stars Kai Kluge and Alex Banfield in the role of Tamino, Kali Hardwick as Pamina, Rainelle Krause as Die Königin der Nacht, and Patrick Zielke {…}
Credit: © Patrice Nin Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia has announced that mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch will perform Chausson’s “Poème de l’amour et de la mer,” Op. 19 in the concert. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10 will be performed in the rest of the concert. Roberto González-Monjas will conduct. Sophie Koch recently performed the role of Kundry in {…}
New York City’s classical music station WQXR has announced the launch of a second season of “New York in Concert.” A guide to the city’s classical scene will consist of a 10-part weekly series and will be hosted by WNYC and WQXR’s radio host John Schaefer. Organizations highlighted include Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Harlem Chamber Players, Metropolitan Museum of Art, {…}