The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has announced its 2020-21 season marking the final season for music director Vasily Petrenko. For this article we will only focus on vocal performances. Ian Tracey conducts the Spirit of Christmas concert with John Suchet as the present and baritone Thomas Weinhappel. The Royal Liverpool Choir and youth choir will also participate in an evening of {…}
The Philharmonia Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season featuring internationally acclaimed guest soloists and recognized conductors. For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on vocal performances. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Yuja Wang and the Philharmonia Voices in Beethoven’s “The Creatures of Prometheus” and Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire. Perfomance Date: Sept. 24, 2020 The Philharmonia Orchestra presents Walton’s {…}
(Credit: Lars Borges) The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season. Here is a look at the vocal highlights of the season. The first major vocal highlight of the season will be Audra McDonald performing music from “Porgy and Bess,” “Carousel,” and other notable Broadway tuned alongside conductor Andy Einhorn. Performance Date: Oct. 20, 2020 Soprano Nuria Rial will take {…}
The London Philharmonic has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a number of important soloists around the world. For this article we will highlight the vocal performances. The season opens with a program entitled Fantastic Symphony with Edward Gardner leading a program of works by Tchaikovsky, Lutosławski, and Berlioz. Gerald Finley will be the featured soloist. Performance Date: Sept. 23, 2020 Edward {…}
The Garsington Opera has announced its 2020 season which will feature four staged operas including two repertory staples and two rarities. Here is a look. Verdi and Romani’s “Un giorno di regno” gets a new staging by Christopher Alden with Tobias Ringborg conducting. Richard Burkhard, Henry Waddington, Christine Rice, Siobhan Stagg, Konu Kim, and Grant Doyle star in the production. Performance {…}
The Garsington Opera has announced its 2020 season which will feature two well established masterpieces of the standard repertory as well as two rare operas by legendary composers. The season kicks off with Verdi’s very first comedy “Un Giorno di Regno.” The work will be directed by Christopher Alden in his company debut and conducted by Tobias Ringborg. Richard Burkhard {…}
Aida Garifullina made history last night alongside Ludovic Tezier and Toby Spence performing at the Forbidden City to celebrate Deutsche Grammophon’s 120th anniversary. Long Yu conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” with the Wiener Singakademie and the Shanghai Spring Children’s Choir. The concert was the first classical concert in the city in 20 years and also included Daniil {…}
As the holiday season approaches, a number of new releases will be available this week. Last week we saw the releases of new albums by Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and the world premiere recording of Anton Rubenstein’s “Moses” and this week’s offerings include an homage to Dmitri Hvorostovsky, a new release for Jonas Kaufmann, a new collaboration between two major {…}
The central drama in “Billy Budd” unambiguously rotates around the relationships between Seaman Billy Budd, Captain Vere, and the Master-at-Arms, John Claggart. However, the exact nature of the relationships and the psychological motivations upon which they are founded are shrouded in a white mist, opening up the possibility for directors to pursue a variety of valid interpretations. Many recent productions {…}