Eva Marton and Iréne Theorin. Two sopranos with gargantuan voices from different eras born on the same day. For Marton, it was June 18, 1943 while Theorin was born exactly 20 years later. Two sopranos with huge voices like these two women are bound to share some repertoire and the truth is that they have. Here is a look at {…}
Throughout her career, Helen Traubel was widely considered one of the great Wagnerian sopranos. Traubel, born on June 16, 1899, was particularly well-known for her Brünhilde in the Ring Cycle and Isolde in “Tristan und Isolde.” Do you know what else she was known for? Things that had little to do with opera. Here are some of Traubel’s extra-operatic talents. {…}
When Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” premiered on June 10, 1865, it changed the world of music and art forever. Not only did it feature some of the most breathtaking music ever committed to a score, but it changed the way music could be written. The celebrated “Tristan” chord, which shattered the musical concept of a stable key, was only the {…}
Alan Gilbert is saying goodbye to the New York Philharmonic as music director. It ends a tenure that brought significant new works and experimented with the standard repertoire alongside one of the finest orchestras in the world. But Gilbert has made sure to make opera a mainstay for the New York Philharmonic so it is no surprise that he ends his {…}
The Miami Music Festival has announced its 2017 season, which will feature five operas, among other programs, starting on June 6, 2017 and ending on July 31, 2017. The program, which will enter its fourth season and offers “an intensive training program for the next generation of classical musicians to work with mentors and gain performing experience,” will feature 250 {…}
For many Richard Wagner is the greatest composer in the history of opera. The German master, born on May 22, 1813, revolutionized not only how opera was created, but he also changed the direction of musical composition, among other things. Everyone knows him for the 10 operas that he wrote, starting with “Die Fliegende Holländer” and concluding with “Parsifal,” though {…}
This is a review for the final performance of the run, which took place on May 12, 2017. The first opera I saw during the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season was Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” So it was only fitting that the last one I saw this season was “Der Fliegende Holländer,” the first to truly establish the composer as {…}
Every opera singer has a dream of performing at the Metropolitan Opera in a leading role. The dream takes a lot of work and hours of rehearsing, practicing, auditioning and, in many ways, luck. But it also takes years of building an international career. For Amber Wagner 2017 marks her first big contract with the theater after making her debut {…}
German tenor Manfred Jung has passed away at age 76. The tenor is perhaps best known for taking on the role of Siegfried in “Götterdämmerung” for Bayreuth’s centennial Ring cycle and also appeared at the 1975 Salzburg Easter Festival under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan. He was lauded for his work and even obtained a prize from Orpheus magazine. {…}
Sir Bryn Terfel has canceled his appearances as Wotan and the Wanderer in Wagner’s Ring at the Vienna State Opera. The bass-baritone, who was scheduled to appear later this month, will be replaced by Egils Silins in “Das Rheingold” on April 30 and by Tomasz Konieczny in “Die Walküre” on May 1 and “Siegfried” on 7th May. Thomas Johannes Mayer will perform {…}
It’s the holiday season with Easter and Passover taking place at the same time. As a result, OperaWire is taking a look at some of the operas that are set during these very sacred holidays. Easter For those not familiar with what Easter Sunday celebrates, it is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as {…}