(Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) It’s been 11 years since the Metropolitan Opera presented Strauss’ “Arabella,” one of the composer’s most beautiful and charming works, and his last collaboration with Hofmannsthal. The work has been championed by many great sopranos and baritones throughout history. While originally scheduled for Lise Davidsen, the Met was able to find a soprano in {…}
(Credit: Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present Strauss’ “Arabella” for the first time since 2014. The company will present Otto Schenk’s 1983 production, with sets designed by Günther Schneider-Siemssen, costumes by Milena Canonero, and lighting by Gil Wechsler. The work will star Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen in the title role and Tomasz Konieczny as {…}
Historically, Wagner stagings have stirred up controversy. They are–to put it bluntly–like a fashion show: seasonally recurrent, fanciful (for better or for worse), and tailored, if you will, to fit just about anything, the blatant as much as the abstruse. New productions, then, warrant a healthy degree of skepticism–especially when, as so often happens, the integrity of the work is {…}
(Photo: Baltic Opera Festival) Searching for the warmth of a home When a composer decides to write music for a church mass, chances are it will be a major composition, especially regarding choir, soloists, orchestration. Through the ages, we have perfect examples of this – the Mozart Requiem, the Verdi Requiem, The Messiahs, to just name a few. The “St {…}
(Photo: K. Mystkowski) Now in its third year, the Baltic Opera Festival is hitting its stride, with founder and leading baritone Tomasz Konieczny omnipresent—tending to last-minute details and overseeing a courteous and attentive staff. The performances take place at the Forest Opera in Sopot, a seaside resort north of Gdańsk on the Polish Baltic coast. For many international opera lovers, {…}
Welcome back for this week’s look at the latest CD and DVD releases in the opera world. This week, audiences will get a chance to see a new production of the Ring Cycle, a classic recording of a Verdi staple, and two solo albums. Here is a look at this week’s releases. Black Pierrot Lexicon Classics releases “Black Pierrot,” a {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) A man speaks out against a tyrant and gets dragged off to jail. That’s at the core of the plot of “Fidelio.” Unsurprisingly, as the Met Opera was reviving Beethoven’s lone operatic work, this very script played out in a different theatrical arena – the U.S. Congress – hours after the “leader of the {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has unveiled its 2025 season. The season opens with “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” starring Michael Spyres, Georg Zeppenfeld, Christina Nilsson, Christa Mayer, and Matthias Stier. Daniele Gatti conducts and Matthias Davids directs. Performance Dates: July 25 – August 22, 2025 Valentin Schwarz’s “Das Rheingold” will be conducted by Simone Young and features Tomas Konieczny, Olafur Sigurdarson, Daniele Behle, {…}
(Photo: Krzysztof Mystkowski) The journey to Opera Lesna – literally translated as Forest Opera – is an experience in itself. From Gdansk by car, bike or bus, you arrive in the parking lot of the forest and have to make a a short pilgrimage to the site – yes, there is an unintended resemblance to approaching the hallowed halls of {…}
(Photo: Krzysztof Mystkowski) What do you expect to find in a Polish forest? Chanterelles or blueberries, deer or foxes perhaps. But opera? That’s how it is in the forest of the seaside resort of Sopot, not far from Gdansk, on the shores of the Baltic Sea. And has been since 1909! Not continuously, but over and over, so much so {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced a cast change for “Der Fliegende Holländer” for the performance on August 8, 2024. The company said, “Due to an injury, Michael Volle will not be able to sing the title role in “Der Fliegende Holländer” on August 8th. We are very grateful to Tomasz Konieczny for taking over at short notice.” Konieczny is well-known {…}
