Karita Mattila, Ausrine Stundyte, Heidi Stober & Christina Landshamer Lead Dresdner Philharmonie’s 2025-26 Season

The Dresdner Philharmonie has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. Gunter Berger conducts the Children’s Choir with Malte Arkona moderating. Performance Date: Sept. 28, 2025 Hans-Christoph Rademann conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Christina Landshamer, Marie Henriette Reinhold, Patrick Grahl, and Matthias Winckhler. Performance Date: Oct. 3, 2025 The music of Astor Piazzolla, {…}

Feb 26, 2025

Latvian National Opera 2025 Review: Salome

(Photo: Agnese Zeltiņa | Files.fm.) I’m not generally given to elaborating on opera plots; preferring for the audience to discover them for themselves, even where the outline of the tale is fairly well known. Alas, I feel somewhat compelled to at least superficially proffer some brief abridgement of “Salome,” if only to illustrate and accentuate the bizarre, outlandish and frequently {…}

Nov 25, 2024

Joyce DiDonato, Rihab Chaieb, Attilio Glaser, & Johan Reuter Lead Bregenz Festival’s 2025 Season

The Bregenz Festival has announced its 2025 season. Opera The festival will present Weber’s “Der Freischütz” in a production by Philipp Stölzl. The cast will include Liviu Holender, Johannes Kammler, Franz Hawlata, Raimund Nolte, Mandy Fredrich, Elissa Huber, Irina Simmes, Hanna Herfurtner, Gloria Rehm, Katharina Ruckgaber, Christof Fischesser, David Steffens, Oliver Zwarg, Thomas Blondelle, Attilio Glaser, and Mauro Peter. Performance Dates: July 17-August 17, 2025 Enescu’s {…}

Nov 8, 2024

Elīna Garanča, Cecilia Bartoli & Thomas Blondelle Lead Lucerne Festival’s 2025 Summer Seson

The Lucerne Festival has announced its 2025 summer season. Here is a look at the vocal performances. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly perform Mahler with Elīna Garanča. Performance Date: August 15, 2025 The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and Keri-Lynn Wilson perform Strauss and Beethoven. Rachel Willis-Sørensen is the guest soloist. Performance Date: August 18, 2025 Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di {…}

Jun 11, 2024

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2023-24 Review: Der Ring des Nibelungen

(Photo credit: Bernd Uhlig) The man who gave the opera world its most dazzling 21st century “Parsifal,” Stefan Herheim, continues his quest to interrogate the Romantic text that is Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen.” Inspired refreshing of a 150-year-old work of art can provide new insights and flashes of illumination. But conceptual pyrotechnics can just as easily destroy its {…}

May 30, 2024

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2024 Review: Der Ring des Nibelungen

(Photo by Bernd Uhlig) I’m back in Berlin, a city I favor and enjoy so much, ready for yet another Ring cycle at Deutsche Oper, a large, comfortable 1850-seat theatre boldly designed in the Modernist style and simply ideal for large-scale productions. And none comes much larger than those penned by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner Therefore, with {…}

Feb 23, 2024

Amanda Majeski, Derek Welton & Marie Perbost lead New CD/DVD Releases

Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week several complete recordings will be released, as well as a unique take on Beethoven ‘s Symphony No. 9. Janáček: Katya Kabanova The second release in LSO Live’s cycle of Janáček opera recordings is “Katya Kabanova.” The album’s cast includes the superb {…}

Apr 27, 2023

Anna Netrebko, Michael Volle & Klaus Florian Vogt Lead Staatstheater Wiesbaden’s 2023-24 Season

The Staatstheater Wiesbaden has announced its 2023-24 season featuring premieres, revivals, and recitals. Premieres Wagner’s “Lohengrin” will be conducted by Michael Güttler and directed by Henriette Hörnigk. The cast will be led by Mirko Roschkowski, Marco Jentzsch, Klaus Florian Vogt, Heather Engebretson, Khatuna Mikaberidze, KS Thomas de Vries, Egils Silins, Young Doo Park, and Timo Riihonen. Performance Dates: Sept. 16, 2023-May {…}

May 19, 2022

Patricia Petibon, Oleg Volkov, Adriana Gonzalez & Arturo Chacón-Cruz Lead Opéra National du Rhin’s 2022-23 Season

France’s Opéra National du Rhin has announced its 2022-23 season. Here is a look at the productions that will be performed this season. “Histoire(s) d’opéra” will feature music by Monteverdi, Händel, Rameau, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Poulenc, and Berberian. Floriane Derthe, Lauranne Oliva, Brenda Poupard, Liying Yang, Glen Cunningham, Andrei Maksimov, and Oleg Volkov star while Émilie Capliez and {…}

Jan 3, 2022

Deutsche Oper Berlin Announces Cast Changes For ‘Das Rheingold’ & ‘Siegfried’

(Credit: © Klaus Frahm) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor will take over the role of Erda in Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” for the performance on Jan. 4, 2022, replacing Judit Kutasi. Taylor joins a cast that includes Derek Welton, Joel Allison, Attilio Glaser, Thomas Blondelle, Markus Brück, Ya-Chung Huang, Andrew Harris, Tobias Kehrer, Annika Schlicht, {…}

Nov 11, 2021

Staatsoper Hamburg Announces Cast Change for ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’

The Staatsoper Hamburg has announced a cast change for its the Nov. 13 performance of Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail.” The company noted that Thomas Blondelle will take over the role of Belmonte for Dovlet Nurgeldiyev. Blondelle has performed at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, the Volksoper Wien, the Oper Frankfurt, the Semperoper Dresden, the Staatstheater {…}