The first International Waiblingen Opera Workshop has chosen 13 singers from eight countries to work with Melanie Diener and Thomas Hampson. The workshop announced that the singers come from Germany, Spain, USA, Israel, Russia, Serbia, Korea, and China and range the ages of 22 and 32. The young artists will have the opportunity to work intensively with the Deiner and {…}
(Credit: Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Pohn) The Wiener Staatsoper’s opening night of the 2019-20 season got off to an interesting start. The season was set to open with a revival of Jean-Francois Sivadier’s production starring Irina Lungu in the title role. But drama struck 20 minutes before the presentation when Lungu canceled. Luckily Ekaterina Siurina, Charles Castronovo’s wife was in the house {…}
***Update: This performance will feature Ekaterina Siurina as Violetta instead of Lungu. The article, as originally published, follows. The Vienna State Opera will kick off the live stream series for the 2019-20 season with a performance of Verdi’s ever-loved “La Traviata” on Sept. 7, 2019. The performance, the second of the run, will feature soprano Irina Lungu in the title {…}
The Royal Opera Muscat has announced its 2019-20 Season. Bizet’s “Carmen” opens the Royal Opera Muscat season with José Cura in the role of Don José, Elena Maximova in the title role, Anita Hartig as Micaëla and George Petean in the role of Escamillo. The Teatro Colón Buenos Aires travels with conductor Antonello Allemandi. Performance Dates: Sept. 11-14, 2019 Celso Albelo {…}
The Pierre Boulez Saal of Berlin has announced its 2019-20 season featuring numerous concerts. For this article, we will only feature vocal performances. Marion Tassou performs an evening with conductor Matthias Pintscher and director Silvia Costa. The program will include music by Blondeau, Lindberg, and Vivier. Performance Date: Sept. 22, 2019 Christian Gerhaher performs an evening of Mahler with Gerold Huber. {…}
The Dora Award nominations have been announced with the Canadian Opera leading the way. In the Outstanding Production category, the Canadian Opera’s production of “La Bohème,” “Hadrian,” “Otello,” and “Eugene Onegin” are nominated alongside “Kopernikus” for the Against the Grain Theatre. Meanwhile, in the Outstanding Performance by an Individual category, Angel Blue, Ambur Braid, Gerald Finley, Thomas Hampson, Tamara Wilson, {…}
May 1, 1786. That is the day that, for many, the greatest opera of all-time had its very first performance. “Le Nozze di Figaro” has held the stage ever since, performed by all the great interpreters all over the world. The work has also developed a healthy discography over the ages both on audio and visual media, making it impossible {…}
Musikverein Wien has announced its 2019-20 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on vocal performances. Martin Haselböck will lead the Orchester Wiener Akademie in a performance of various works by Franz Schubert as well as Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. Baritone Thomas Hampson will be featured. Performance Date: Oct. 13, 2019 Bass Günther Groissböck and {…}
The Zurich Opera has announced its 2019-20 season which will feature a whopping 11 opera premieres and 17 opera revivals. Premieres “The Makropulos Case” will be the first offering of the season with Evelyn Herlitzius starring as Emilia Marty. Other cast members will include Sam Furness, Kevin Conners, Deniz Uzun, Scott Hendricks, and Spencer Lang, among others. Dmitri Tcherniakov will direct while {…}
The Vienna State Opera has announced its 2019-20 season, which includes six new productions and a whopping 58 operas overall. There are also a plethora of concert performances as well featuring some of the greatest opera stars on the planet. New Productions The new season kicks off with a new production of Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Directed by Irina {…}
The Verbier Festival has announced the programming for its 26th edition. While there are undeniably a plethora of incredible performances of all kinds to be found throughout the many weeks of this famed festival, the aim of this article will be to focus mainly on vocal and operatic performances. Baritone Thomas Quasthoff will appear alongside guitarist Wolfgang Meyer and Trombonist {…}