What does it take to make a difference in the opera world? And what does it mean? Should one be world-famous, have a star-management and a five-figure fee? I guess it’s a certain way. But then, on a planet [over]-populated by almost eight billion people, we would have just a handful of such personalities. When a couple of years ago, {…}
Irina Lungu has canceled Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” at the Teatro Petruzzelli. The soprano took to social media and said, “Dear friends, unfortunately I will have to wait for another opportunity to make my debut in this beautiful theatre. I got a severe tracheitis that is not resolving quickly. With a broken heart I have to say goodbye to my {…}
The Fondazione Petruzzelli has announced its 2023 season featuring eight productions. The season will open with Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Cecilia Molinari, Amira Elmadfa, Levy Sekgapane, Cesar Cortes, Markus Werba, Gurgen Baveyan, Gianluca Buratto, Nicolò Donini, Marco Filippo Romano, and Stefano Marchisio. Stefano Montanari conducts Davide Livermore’s production. Performance Dates: Jan. 22-29, 2023 Ian Storey, Elena Gabouri, Jane {…}
The Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari has announced its 2022 season featuring ballet and opera. Here is a look at the operatic productions. Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” opens the season with Andrew Richards and Lars Cleveman as Tristan and Gun-Brit Barkmin and Alexandra Lubchansky as Isolde. The cast also includes Stefanie Iranyi, Anna Werle, Rafal Siwek, Oliver Zwarg, Robert Bork, and {…}
(Credit: Opera Australia official website) The Baluarte auditorium in Pamplona has announced a second cast change for its upcoming semi-staged performances of Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” The Spanish opera house announced that tenor Walter Fraccaro will take over the role of Des Grieux, replacing Roberto Aronica. This marks the second high-profile replacement after soprano Ainhoa Arteta was forced to cancel due {…}
The Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari has announced the postponement of the run of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Golden Cockerel” due to COVID-19. The opera was slated to run between Oct. 30, 2020, and Nov. 5, 2020. The operatic masterwork was supposed to star Aleksei Tikhomirov, Mikhail Gujov, Dmitry Khromov, Dmitry Yankovskiy, Grigoriy Soloviev, Sergej Toptygin, Kseniya Viaznikova, Larisa Kostyuk, Ivan Volkov, {…}
This article was written in collaboration with David Salazar & Dejan Vukosavljevic. The Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari has canceled remaining performances for its “Falstaff” production following a COVID-19 outbreak. According to La Gazzetta del Giorno, 10 employees from the theater tested positive for the virus and are all symptomatic. The Teatro Petruzelli was also forced to cancel the Family concert {…}
(Credit: Paladino Music official website) Austrian tenor Kurt Azesberger has died at the age of 60, after suffering from heart failure while on vacation in South Tyrol, Austria. Azesberger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Music Conservatory of Vienna. Kurt Azesberger had performed worldwide, including Germany, Austria, UK, Italy, France, and Spain, among others. He had {…}