(Credit: Michael Pohn) ORF II is set to present Puccini’s “Turandot” in a new production by Claus Guth. The opera will be broadcast on Dec. 16, 2023 from the Wiener Staatsoper and will star Asmik Grigorian in the title role, Jonas Kaufmann, Kristina Mkhitaryan, and Dan Paul Dumitrescu. The cast will be rounded out by Jörg Schneider, Attila Mokus, Martin Häßler, Norbert Ernst, and Hiroshi Amako. {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced a cast change for its production of “Turandot.” The company said that Sondra Radvanovsky has withdrawn from the production due to illness. As a result, Tamara Wilson will perform the title role on Nov. 6, 8, 11, 15, 19, 24, 28, 2023 while Irene Theorin will sing on the ice princess on Nov. 9, 13, 17, {…}
OperaDelaware has unveiled its 2023-24 season. First up is Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in a production starring Grant Youngblood, Rachel Blaustein, Dane Suarez, Young Bok Kim, Megan Marino, and Joseph Lodato, among others. Kristen Barrett directs and Viswa Subbaraman conducts the production. There will be a microgala prior the opening performance to give audiences a chance to meet the artists of the {…}
On Sept. 15, the Landestheater Detmold will open a production of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The production will star Oksana Kramareva as the Ice Princess, Gabriele Mangione in his role debut as Calaf, and Emily Dorn as Liu. The alternate cast includes Maureen Braubec (Turandot), Ji-Woon Kim (Calaf) and Christin Stanowski (Liù). Swedish conductor Per-Otto Johansson will lead the production which is {…}
As the Teatro Real de Madrid closes its 2022-23 season, the company is set to present a new production of “Turandot” with three casts that include some of the greatest interpreters of the roles. Among the cast will be Ewa Płonka, who returns to Madrid a year after her debut. Płonka has become one of the leading dramatic sopranos of {…}
(Photo: Monica Ritterhaus) Piotr Beczała has withdrawn from his remaining performances of “Turandot” at the Opernhaus Zürich. The tenor took to social media to announce that he has been struggling with a severe viral infection over the last six weeks and that unfortunately his body is too weak to take on the performances. Beczała He wrote, “Dear friends, as you {…}
The Teatro Real de Madrid has announced a new cast change for its production of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The company said that Ewa Plonka will replace Angela Meade in the title role of Turandot. The news comes two days after it was announced that Meade would replace Elena Pankratova, who was originally cast to lead the second cast. Plonka will perform {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced a casting update for its 2023-24 production of Puccini’s “Turandot.” The company said that Juliana Grigoryan and Angel Blue will join the cast of “Turandot” singing Liu. Grigoryan will make her Met debut on March 13, 2024 while Blue will sing on April 11, 2024. Grigoryan won the Operalia competition last year and recently performed {…}
There is no shortage of good and, sometimes, exceptional recordings of Puccini’s “Turandot,” with aficionados generally swaying between Molinari-Pradelli’s studio release (with Franco Corelli and Birgit Nilsson) and Mehta’s landmark take from 1972. Add to this Franco Ghione and, in excerpts, Barbirolli’s visceral “Turandots” from the pre-war period, and nearly all aspects of Puccini’s swan song – from the ritualistic {…}
Photo: Marc Brenner Having an unequivocal passion for Puccini, this reviewer must confess to being somewhat conflicted over his final work. These concerns, though, have always been assuaged with the knowledge that many others have also been plagued with such uncertainty, not least with the original work itself, for, of course, the maestro died before the completion of “Turandot.” After {…}
Photo: Marc Brenner/ROH Somnific fiction is the stuff of bedtime stories starring beasts and feasts of the absurd: displays of madness only children could endure pre-slumber. Lumbering imaginations with beguilement, it refrains from the revilement of base villains, wrapping them instead in tangible entrancement. This enhancement of surrealness makes the fairytale the tender tooth’s apéritif: a nightly dose of magical {…}