Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Marina Rebeka, Elīna Garanča, Jessica Pratt, Luca Salsi, Aleksandra Kurzak & Francesco Meli Lead Maggio Musicale Fiorentino’s 2027 Season

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced its 2027 season. Opera Kristina Mkhitarian star in Verdi’s “La Traviata” with Anthony Ciaramitaro, Luca Salsi, and Min Kim. Performance Dates: Jan. 15-22, 2027 Baldassarre Galuppi’s “Il mondo alla roversa o sia le donne che comandano” will star finalists of the International Pietro Antonio Cesti Baroque Singing Competition in Innsbruck. Chiara Cattani conducts the {…}

Nov 26, 2025

Sydney Symphony Orchestra 2025 Review: Siegfried

(Photo credit: Daniel Boud) At the end of Act one of the Sydney Symphony’s “Siegfried,” on November 13th at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, one may have sensed from the onstage performers’ elation that Simon O’Neill as Siegfried, Gerhard Siegel as Mime, and conductor Simone Young knew they had nailed it. The audience’s applause was long and enthusiastic. A {…}

Nov 11, 2025

San Francisco Opera Announces The Ring Cycle for Summer 2028

(©Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera) The San Francisco Opera has announced plans for the Company’s upcoming presentation of Richard Wagner’s “The Ring of the Nibelung (Der Ring des Nibelungen).” The company noted that it will present the tetraoly in summer 2028 with director Francesca Zambello reviving her acclaimed production. The cast will include Tamara Wilson as Brünnhilde, Brian Mulligan as Wotan, and {…}

Sep 8, 2025

Simon O’Neill Joins Askonas Holt for Management

Simon O’Neill has joined the roster of Askonas Holt for worldwide general management excluding Australia and New Zealand. The tenor will be managed by Joel Thomas and Paul Meyer zu Schwabedissen. O’Neill is a well-known Heldentenor who has performed at the Royal Opera, Berliner Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg and the Bayerisches Staatsoper, as well as the BBC Proms and the {…}

Feb 5, 2025

Opéra National de Paris 2024-25 Review: Das Rheingold

(Photo: Herwig Prammer / OnP) A very promising night indeed: Paris Opera takes its first step toward its new Ring under the direction of Calixto Bieito—one of the most exciting artists in his field—and with a promising cast. The stakes are particularly high for the company president, Alexander Neef, who would crowd his tenure with a Wagner Ring in continental {…}

Oct 23, 2024

San Francisco Opera 2024-25 Review: Tristan und Isolde

(Credit: Cory Weaver) Whether you view Richard Wagner’s opera, “Tristan und Isolde,” as an expressive tale of universal human redemption or simply a unique take on the many medieval romances of love and death, there is no question it casts a spell. In the opening of San Francisco’s new production by Paul Curran, conducted by San Francisco’s own Eun Sun {…}

Oct 13, 2024

San Francisco Opera and Lumahai Productions Present New Film ‘Eun Sun Kim: A Journey Into Lohengrin’

The release of “Eun Sun Kim: A Journey Into Lohengrin,” an hour-long film by San Francisco Opera and Lumahai Productions has been announced. Directed by Elena Park, the new film takes viewers behind the scenes during the weeks of rehearsal leading up to the opening of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at San Francisco Opera last October. It follows the production team and {…}

Sep 27, 2024

Simon O’Neill & Anja Kampe Lead San Francisco Opera’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’

San Francisco Opera is set to present Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The opera is set to be presented between Oct. 19 and Nov. 5 for five performances under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Paul Curran makes his company debut directing a cast that will be led by Wagnerian interpreters Simon O’Neill and Anja {…}

Mar 27, 2024

Sydney Symphony Orchestra 2024 Review: Gurrelieder

Photo credit: Daniel Boud We can be grateful that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Simone Young has a passion for the music of Arnold Schoenberg in this, his 150th anniversary year. On Friday March 15th, it led to the first performance in Sydney of Schoenberg’s concert-drama “Gurrelieder,” a massive work that was first performed in Vienna 111 years ago, {…}

Mar 7, 2024

Simone Young Conducts ‘Gurrelieder’ at Sydney Opera House

(Photo credit: SSO) Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Simone Young leads Schoenberg’s “Gurrelieder,” at Sydney Opera House in celebration of the composer’s 150 birthday. “Gurrelieder” make its Sydney debut with soloist soprano Ricarda Merbeth, mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble, tenors Simon O’Neill and Andrew Goodwin, and bass Sava Vemić. They are joined by a chorus of more than 200 and an orchestra of {…}

Nov 27, 2023

Sydney Symphony Orchestra 2023 Review: Das Rheingold

(Photo credit: Daniel Boud) Concert performances of “Das Rheingold” by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in the Opera House Concert Hall November 16-18 were the most recent events in what is shaping up to be a bit of a Wagner year in Australia. Next month sees Opera Australia’s much-awaited new “Ring cycle” in Brisbane, delayed twice previously by COVID. Back {…}

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