(Credit: Staatsoper unter der Linden Facebook page) The Staatsoper unter der Linden in Berlin has announced changes to its 2020-21 season. The productions of Verdi’s “Macbeth,” Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” and Britten’s “The Turn of The Screw” have been canceled, per an official press release. Instead, the opera house will offer three presentations of the gala concert “Viva Verdi!,” on Oct. 4, {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a film section or a film in its entirety and highlight the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Charles {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston) “One voice in a million.” This is the kind of phrase on which legacies, mythologies, histories are built. And it’s the phrase that continues to crop up whenever Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen enters the operatic conversation. The soprano has definitely played her part in bringing about this idea that her voice is of a unique power. She {…}
(Credit: Rahvusooper Estonia) Estonian conductor Jüri Alperten has died at the age of 63, after a long illness. Alperten graduated from the Tallinn Conservatory in 1979 and was the Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera from 2002 to 2004; he was also the Chief Conductor of the Pärnu City Orchestra since 1998. Alperten had worked with several prominent orchestras, {…}
(Credit: Ashley Plante) When Berlin opera houses called off their performances in March due to the COVID 19 pandemic, one rarely performed opera was stopped dead in its track- the Komische Oper’s production of “Schwanda.” Among the artists set to star in that production was American soprano Sara Jakubiak. Jakubiak, who has appeared on the most important world stages, to {…}
(Credit: Emelie Kroon) When COVID-19 struck a few months back, one of the final “live” performances to take the stage was a rendition of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” in Sweden. Among the performers in that production was dramatic soprano Elisabet Strid, who took on the role of Sieglinde. Strid, who has performed in such opera houses as the Teatro Real, Lyric {…}
(Credit: Samuel Hasselhorn Official Website) Baritone Samuel Hasselhorn has announced his upcoming album “Stille Liebe.” The new recording, by Harmonia Mundi, will feature a selection of songs by Robert Schumann including the Kerner Lieder, Andersen Lieder, and Heine ballads. Hasselhorn is accompanied by the British pianist Joseph Middleton. This marks the latest album by Hasselhorn, who has already recorded a {…}
LA Opera has announced that it will be postponing four productions that were scheduled for later this year. The first half of LA Opera’s 2020-21 season, which was set to present productions of “Il Trovatore,” “Tannhäuser,” “La Cenerentola,” and “Get Out in Concert” will be rescheduled for the first half of the 2021-22 season. Most of the original performers will {…}
(Credit: Candy Welz) Soprano Camila Ribero-Souza was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where she studied singing with Jocelyne Gallo, Edilson Costa, and Luiz Tenaglia. From March 2011 until January 2018, she was a member of the soloist ensemble of the Meininger Staatstheater. In February 2018, as a spinto soprano, she joined the ensemble at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, where she {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment “To All the Boys {…}
(Credit: Michael Taubenheim) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced a cast change for two performances of “Tannhaüser” on its official website. Per the company, on May 1 and May 10, 2020, bass Ante Jerkunica will perform the role of Landgraf Hermann instead of Tobias Kehrer. Jerkunica has been recently seen in the role of König Marke in Wagner’s “Tristan und {…}