(Photo credit: Glyndebourne’s own official trailer highlights its festival as “No Ordinary Opera”. Certainly, the staging for “Tristan und Isolde” is far from ordinary, courtesy of a visually entrancing setting by Ronald Aeschlimann. The performers are basically encased in an elliptical vortex-type form of concentric circles, which I interpreted to be a depiction of some portal-like presence intended to illustrate {…}
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2024-25 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” will be conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and star Mark Padmore, Camilla Tilling, Magdalena Kožená, Andrew Staples, Roderick Williams, and Georg Nigl. Performance Dates: Sept. 26 & 27, 2024 Sir Simon Rattle conducts music by De {…}
The Lucerne Festival has announced its 2024 season. Here are the vocal performances. Kent Nagano conducts Wagner’s “Die Walküre” with a cast that includes Simon Bailey, Maximilian Schmitt, Sarah Wegener, Åsa Jäger, and Dimitry Ivashchenko. Performance Date: August 21, 2024 The Klangforum Wien, Cantando Admont, and Beat Furrer perform Beat Furrer’s “Begehren.” Performance Date: Sept. 1, 2024 The Jupiter Ensemble, Thomas {…}
The 2024 Glyndebourne Festival has been announced celebrating its 90th season. The season will open with a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” directed by Diane Paulus in her Glyndebourne directorial debut. Music Director Robin Ticciati and conductor Anja Bihlmaier will share conducting duties with two casts. The first cast will include mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb in the role of Carmen and {…}
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is set to live stream the Sept. 8 performance of the second Act of “Tristan und Isolde.” The performance, which is led by conductor Susanna Mälkki, stars Stuart Skelton and Lise Lindstrom in the title roles. They are joined by Jenny Carlstedy as Brangäne, Markus Nieminen as Kurwenal, Brindley Sherrat as King Marke, and Roland Liiv {…}
This week audiences will get a chance to hear complete opera recordings from Saint-Saëns, Monteverdi, Janáček, Olga Neuwirth, and Wagner. Here is a look at this week’s new releases. Henry VIII Odyssey Opera will release its fifth album Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Henry VIII.” Recorded on New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall stage in 2019, this four-CD set marks the debut recording of {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its April 14 performance of “Parsifal” The company noted that due to illness Simon O‘Neill would not be performing the title role. As a result, Stuart Skelton will take over. Skelton is one of today’s most revered Wagnerian singers of his generation. He has performed the title role of Parsifal around {…}
Müpa Budapest has announced its 2022-23 season featuring a number of concerts and great artists. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. Musical Stage Aapo Häkkinen conducts Schubert’s “Alfonso und Estrella” with Patrick Grahl, Lydia Teuscher, Krešimir Stražanac, Johannes Weisser, and Arttu Kataja. Performance Dates: Nov. 17, 2022 Nikolas Nägele conducts the Bel Canto Aria evening {…}
(Credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke) UC College-Conservatory of Music has announced the appointment of heldentenor Stuart Skelton as its new J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera. Skelton will replace Marie-France Lefebvre in his new position. Skelton is regarded as one of today’s leading heldentenors who has appeared at many of the world’s most celebrated opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera House, {…}
Those yearning for a lot of big name opera gems will certainly be satisfied with this week’s offerings which include a bit of a deviation from our usual format – we included three productions from the same company. But there are still several other unique offerings from around the world. We hope you have a fulfilling week of operatic experiences. {…}
On July 8, ARTE TV will stream Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” from the Festival Aix-en-Provence in France. The new production by Simon Stone is headlined by Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme in the title roles, Jamie Barton as Brangäne, Josef Wagner as Kurwenal, Franz-Josef Selig as König Marke, and Dominic Sedgwick as Melot. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the production. The {…}