Erato has announced that the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of “Norma” will be released on DVD. The production, which opened the Met season last season, starred Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, and Joseph Calleja. Carlo Rizzi conducted the opera, which received rave reviews and which OperaWire called the production a “success and hearkens to a season of beautiful artistry, great music, {…}
There will be 14 performances of Verdi’s “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2018-19 season spanning from September through March. On the surface, 14 performances might not really be all that much, except when one considers that there will be what ultimately amounts to two very different casts with variations spread across three different periods of the season. So {…}
“I saw the Queen of England weep!” It is true, at least in the brilliant portrayal of Elizabeth I by soprano, Sondra Radvanovsky, in the San Francisco Opera’s production of “Roberto Devereaux.” In Donizetti’s third and most popular Tudor Queen opera (“Anna Bolena” and “Maria Stuarda” being the other two), Radvanovsky sings with moving beauty as she dramatized the role {…}
The opera season is starting up again with two major companies getting productions underway. One of those companies has two operatic gems in store, making for what should be an exciting weekend on the West Coast. Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci – San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera opens its season on Friday with a production of the famed double {…}
In a weekend of classics, there will be new productions opening, some revivals, and others closing. And then there will be a gala with one of a legendary sopranos who has surpassed all expectations. Here is a look! Gala Konzert – Wiener Staatsoper, Austria Edita Gruberova offers a gala concert featuring music from “La Traviata,” “Don Giovanni,” “Die Entführung aus dem {…}
“Il Trovatore” never fails. From one note to the next, we have glory, love, pain, revenge, daring. Verdi didn’t miss. Say what you want about the twisting melodrama of a gypsy, a curse, stolen babies, a woman caught between two lovers. When you come down to it, you have opera to shout over. Last night at the Opéra National de {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced the 2018-19 season, which is incidentally the company’s 150-anniversary year. The season will include six new productions, including a world premiere production. Here is a breakdown of what’s to come. New Productions (In Order of Opening) Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” will be the first new production, starting on Oct. 14, 2018. David McVicar directs while {…}
( Photo credit: Manfred Brückels) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2018-19 season featuring seven new productions and numerous revivals. The season will also include some of today’s biggest stars as well numerous ensemble members. Here is a look! New Productions Johan Reuter takes on the title role in Berg’s “Wozzeck” in a new production by Ole Anders Tanberg’s {…}
Monserrat Caballé and Sondra Radvanovsky are two of the most revered sopranos of their generation. Caballé was well-known for her expressive voice and her immense repertoire. Meanwhile, today Radvanovsky is dominating the Italian verismo, Bel canto, and Verdi repertoire showing her range and flexibility. Both sopranos also performed a number of unknown or rarely-performed operas. To celebrate their birthdays, which are one {…}
Sondra Radvanovsky encored the Barcelona audience, On March 24, after the soprano received a massive ovation for her “La Mamma Morta” in Andrea Chenier,” the soprano encored audiences. Radvanovsky is one of the first sopranos to encore a piece in recent history and in Barcelona. The soprano now joins Piotr Beczala, Rolando Villazon, Juan Diego Florez, and Javier Camarena as a {…}
When Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” hits the stage on Thursday, March 29, it will be the first time the opera is staged with the company in exactly 12 years. The cast will include Plácido Domingo and Piotr Beczala among the male leads, but will also showcase the third major work headlined by Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva at the Met in 2017-18. {…}