Anita Rachvelishvili, Federica Guida, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Santiago Ballerini, Ian Bostridge & Kristina Mkhitaryan Lead Teatro Petruzzelli’s 2026 Season

The Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari has announced its 2026 season. Opera Niccolò Piccinni’s “La Cecchina” opens the season with Daniele Luchetti directing. Stefano Montanari conducts a cast that includes Ana Maria Labin, Francesca Benitez, Krystian Adam, Francesca Aspromonte, Paola Gardina, Michela Antenucci, Christian Senn, and Pietro Spagnoli. Performance Dates: Jan 21-28, 2026 Vincenzo Milletari will conduct Verdi’s “Falstaff” with Luca Ronconi directing. The production will star Milan {…}

Jun 12, 2025

Luca Salsi, Brian Jagde, Francesco Meli, Annalisa Stroppa, Rosa Feola, & Gregory Kunde Lead Teatro La Fenice’s 2025-26 Season

The Teatro La Fenice has announced its 2025-26 season. Opera The season opens with Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” with Ivor Bolton conducting a new production by Paul Curran. The cast includes Daniel Behle, Cecilia Molinari, Nicolò Balducci, and Francesca Aspromonte. Performance Dates: Nov. 20-30, 2025 Luca Micheletti directs Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” with Renato Palumbo conducting. Luca Salsi, Francesco Meli, {…}

Jun 1, 2025

Royal Ballet and Opera 2025 Review: Faust

(Credit: ©2025 Marc Brenner) This David McVicar production of “Faust” is its sixth incarnation. It is a cornucopia of demonic dabbling and delightful witticism combined with some rather dark, if not thoroughly perturbing, moments; balanced with some stellar acting and some pretty glorious singing! Under revival director Peter Relton we are presented here with a gamut of prancing devils, cabaret girls {…}

May 21, 2025

Q & A: Ștefan Pop on ‘Faust’ & How a Singer’s Repertoire Determines Their Career

(Photo: c. StefanPop.com) Romanian tenor Ștefan Pop is considered among today’s leading lyric tenors and he is best known for bel canto repertoire. He is the recipient of several awards including, in 2010, Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition and the Seoul International Music Competition. Born in Bistrita, and having a strong musical background after studying the violin for twelve years, he {…}

Apr 26, 2025

Berlin State Opera Announces Cast Change for ‘Norma’

The Berlin State Opera has announced a cast change for its April 26 performance of “Norma.” The company said that Stefan Pop will sing the role of Pollione, replacing Dmitry Korchak. Pop is well known for his work in Bel Canto operas and has sung Pollione at the Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Real, Teatro Carlo Felice, Teatro {…}

Nov 15, 2024

Rai5 to Broadcast Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s ‘Simon Boccanegra’

Rai5 is set to present the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma’s opening night production of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.” Rai Cultura will produce the recording which will be shown at 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2024. The production will be directed by Richard Jones with sets and costumes by Antony McDonald. Michele Mariotti will conduct the production which will star Luca Salsi {…}

Oct 24, 2024

Jessica Pratt, Carmen Giannattasio, Anastasia Bartoli & Juliana Grigoryan Lead Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s 2025 Season

The Teatro Comunale di Bologna has announced its 2025 season. Opera The season opens with Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” with Riccardo Frizza conducting a cast that includes Carmen Giannattasio, Angelo Villari, and Claudio Sgura. Paul Curran directs. Another cast includes Ann Petersen, Amadi Lagha, and Gustavo Castillo. Performance Dates: Jan. 24-30, 2025 Jessica Pratt, Giovanni Sala, Marko Mimica, and Lucas Meachem lead Donizetti’s {…}

Aug 21, 2024

Lisette Oropesa to Record ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’

(Credit: Teatro alla Scala / Brescia – Amisano) Lisette Oropesa is recording Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” The Soprano took to social media to announce the upcoming album and noted that the opera will be recorded in Sicily. The cast will include Stefan Pop as Edgardo, Mattia Olivieri as Enrico, and Riccardo Zanellato as Raimondo. Maestro Fabrizio Maria Carminati will conduct. Oropesa {…}

Apr 30, 2024

Pretty Yende, Sonya Yoncheva, Juan Diego Flórez, Allan Clayton, Lise Davidsen, & Lisette Oropesa Lead Royal Opera House’s 2024-25 Season

The Royal Opera House has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the season. Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” will open the season with a cast that includes Luca Micheletti, Ying Fang, Huw Montague Rendall, Jacquelyn Stucker, and Ginger Costa-Jackson. Performance Dates: Sept. 2-15, 2024 Verdi’s “La Traviata” will feature two casts. The first cast will be headlined {…}

Mar 29, 2024

Kristine Opolais, Vida Miknevičiūtė, Tuomas Pursio & Stefan Pop Lead Finnish National Opera’s 2024-25 Season

The Finnish National Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Premieres Leevi Madetoja’s “The Ostrobothnians”, which is known as Finland’s “national opera” will be directed by director Paavo Westerberg. The cast will include Jukka Rasilainen, Ville Rusanen, Jussi Vänttinen, Johanna Lehesvuori, Maria Turunen, Iida Antola, Päivi Nisula, Tuomas Pursio, Aarne Pelkonen, Ilkka Hämäläinen and Mika Pohjonen. The Orchestra of the Finnish National {…}

Mar 20, 2024

Benjamin Bernheim, Lisette Oropesa, Ludovic Tézier & Asmik Grigorian Lead Opéra de Paris’ 2024-25 Season

The Opéra de Paris has announced its 2024-25 season. Opera Verdi’s “Falstaff” opens the season with a cast that includes Ambrogio Maestri, Olivia Boen, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Andrei Kymach, Gregory Bonfatti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Iván Ayón-Rivas, and Federica Guida. Michael Schønwandt conducts the production by Dominique Pitoiset. Performance Dates: Sept. 10-30, 2024 Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” will star Eleonora Buratto, Elena Stikhina, Aude {…}