Going into its 114th year, the Ravinia Festival brings together artists from all over the world to perform in the longest-running music festival in America. Here are some of the highlights of Ravinia Festival’s 2018 season: Soprano Jeanine De Bique: BGH Classics Series The program will include selections from Mozart, Strauss, and Wolf. De Bique will also perform a number {…}
UPDATE: Hampson posted a message on his Facebook account to clarify his health situation. “I regrettably announce that I had to withdraw from last Saturday’s performance in Oviedo. Unfortunately, I had an extremely aggravating flu last week following a truly enjoyable Operetta tour with Piotr and Annette, and needed time to recover. I’ve been looking forward to my debut as Don {…}
The Bayerische Staatsoper has undergone two cast changes in the past few days. The first is Thomas Hampson who has withdrawn from his upcoming performances of “Così fan tutte.” As a result, Luca Tittoto will replace the baritone As Don Alfonso. Over the past years Tittoto has become a sought-after bass, singing at La Fenice, Venice, Teatro Comunale, Teatro di {…}
On Jan. 21, 2018, fans of Leonard Bernstein gathered in The Greene Space of Lower Manhattan for a night of songs and celebration in honor of the 100th birthday of the great composer. Hosted by WQXR’s Elliott Forrest, the event was equal parts reminiscence and reverie, in large part due to pianist Laura Downes, who performed much of her upcoming {…}
The Houston Grand Opera is primed for an exciting 2018-19 season after a tumultuous fall of 2017. Combining major classics with some unique modern works. What makes these productions all the more exciting are the artists themselves. And the company did a tremendous casting job this season. Here are the five artists that will make some major headlines this season {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2018-19 season featuring six productions of German, Italian, Spanish and French repertoire. There will also be a world premiere, the first for the company in over a decade. The season opens with “The Flying Dutchman” on Oct. 19 with Andrzej Dobber in the title role and Rachel Willis-Sørensen in the role of Senta. Kristinn Sigmundsson sings {…}
The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2018-19 season filled with numerous classics and a world premiere. And there is also a major surprise. As in previous years, the season will include six productions divided into three pairs, for the fall, winter and spring seasons. The season will open on Sept. 30, 2018, with “Eugene Onegin” in Robert Carsen’s classic {…}
It’s another weekend filled with some of the greatest stars and some popular titles. Austria The Vienna State Opera kicks off its weekend with “Don Giovanni” starring Adam Plachetka, Irina Lungu, Benjamin Bruns, Dorothea Röschmann and Robert Gleadow and will be followed by “The Gambler” with Dmitry Ulyanov, Elena Guseva, Misha Didyk, Linda Watson, Thomas Ebenstein, Elena Maximova, and Morten Frank Larsen. {…}
A number of major opera stars are slated to make appearances at the newly-formed Campus Grafenegg, which launches in 2018. The new initiative from the famed Grafenegg Festival will be led by Leon Botstein and is slated to help nurture young musical talent. Per a press release, “the mission of this new initiative is to foster an in-depth education program {…}
This weekend will be filled with new productions, an opening night in Zurich and, as always, many great stars. Austria Olga Peretyatko-Mariotti headlines “La Traviata” at the Vienna State Opera with Jean-François Borras and Paolo Rumetz. At the Volksoper, “Die Zauberflöte,” “Gypsy” and “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” will be shown this weekend. Belgium Anna Caterina Antonacci will sing her signature {…}
After a week of releases dominated by Maria Callas, European opera lovers are getting a ton of options for quality recordings from the world’s greatest artists. In the US, one major CD release will steal headlines. Duets Rolando Villazón and Ildar Abdrazakov’s new duets, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin will arrive on shelves in the US this week and features duets {…}