This Saturday, the Vienna State Opera brings its season-long live stream series to an end with Verdi’s “Falstaff.” Per the official website, Verdi’s final masterwork will showcase Ambrogio Maestri in his signature role alongside Christopher Maltman as Ford. Among the other major stars of the showcase are Jinxu Xiahou, Olga Bezsmertna, Hila Fahima, and Monika Bohinec. James Conlon conducts Sir {…}
This Tuesday, June 26, 2018, the Vienna State Opera streams a live performance of Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” The showcase is part of the company’s season-long service straight from its website. Per the official website, the Wagner work will feature Jongmin Park, Christopher Ventris, Annette Dasch, Jukka Rasilainen, Elena Zhidkova, and Adrian Eröd. Sebastian Weigle leads the massive score in a production {…}
Ivan Magrì will replace Juan Diego Flórez as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the Vienna State Opera. It will be his debut with the company. He will perform alongside Paolo Rumetz’s interpretation of the title role and Aida Garifullina, who will take on Gilda. Magrì has performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro {…}
Update: Juan Diego Flórez recently announced that he is canceling his participation in this production. The original article follows. This Sunday, June 10, 2018, the Vienna State Opera streams a live performance of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” around the globe. The performance is part of the company’s season-long service straight from its website. Per the official website, the performance will star Juan {…}
Verdi’s “La Traviata” will be the first opera to live stream from the Vienna State Opera in the month of June as the performance on the first will get a broadcast around the globe. Per the official website, Irina Lungu stars as Violetta with Pavol Breslik as Alfredo and Plácido Domingo as Germont. Marco Armiliato conducts the Jean-Francois Sivadier production. {…}
It is not too difficult to stage Verdi’s ever-popular tear-jerker “La Traviata.” Francesco Maria Piave’s libretto and stage directions are so detailed any director with access to a few lengths of velvet and some stock chandeliers can create a plausible mis-en-scène to serve Verdi’s marvelous, emotive music. French director Jean-François Sivadier, whose operatic resumé is shorter than a Rossini semiquaver, {…}
Of Richard Strauss’ 15 completed operas, his last opus “Capriccio” is arguably the most abstruse. For a start, it isn’t even called an opera but a “Conversation Piece for Music.” Many Strauss scholars are baffled by this highly cerebral, seemingly escapist bagatelle composed in the midst of the mayhem of World War II. It was as if Strauss and librettist {…}
This Thursday, May 24, 2018, the Vienna State Opera showcases a production of Strauss’ late work “Capriccio” via its famed live streaming service. Per the official website, the showcase stars Anna Gabler, Markus Eiche, Michael Schade, Adrian Eröd, Wolfgang Bankl, and Angelika Kirchschlager among its cast members with Michael Boder conducting the performance. The performance kicks off at 7 p.m. {…}
Taking the biblical element out of “Samson et Dalila” makes about as much sense as setting “Madama Butterfly” in Botswana. Typical of many opera directors trained in the theater, Alexandra Liedtke seems to have limited understanding of Saint-Saëns’ music and even less about Lemaire’s libretto. As is often the case when a regisseur feels their genius may be unappreciated, Liedtke chose {…}
Before the Met showcases Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna in “Samson et Dalila” this fall, audiences around the world will get to hear the duo live from the Vienna State Opera as part of its live stream series as the showcase on Friday, May 18, 2018, will be presented globally online. The production will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and {…}
Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier” is in many ways a sibling of Puccini’s “Tosca.” Both were sired by librettist Luigi Illica and both share the staple verismo ingredients of sex, politics, romantic obsession, frustrated baritones, and a grim end for the protagonists. There is also the common factor of youth in all its sanguine exuberance. Cavaradossi and Chénier are idealists with fatal {…}