The Florida Grand Opera has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring four productions. The season opens with Puccini’s timeless tale “La Bohème.” Performances will be held in Miami and then in Fort Lauderdale with a cast to be announced at a later moment. Performance Dates: Nov. 3-17, 2018 Mozart’s masterpiece “Le Nozze di Figaro” follows with such famous arias as “Voi {…}
The Metropolitan Opera is slated for its latest premiere this week when it showcases Massenet’s “Cendrillon.” The opera, which is based on the tale of Cinderella will star Joyce DiDonato and is set to run between April 12 and May 11. The opera will also feature Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Kim, Laurent Naouri, all under the musical direction of {…}
Premiering on February 16, 1892, at the Vienna State Opera, “Werther” is adapted from the novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Although the work would be later staged at the Opera-Comique in Paris, it was first rejected due to its serious tone and sullen protagonist. It wasn’t until the success of “Manon” that Massenet {…}
Juan Diego Flórez’s “Werther” has been announced for DVD. The new DVD, which was recorded live in April 2017 from the Opernhaus Zurich, will be released by Accentus Music. The performance also stars Anna Stephany as Charlotte and Melissa Petit as Sophie. Cornelius Meister conducts Tatiana Gurbaca’s new production. When the production opened, it was hailed, particularly for Flórez, who {…}
Andrea Bocelli, born on Sept. 22, 1958, is one of the most famous tenors in the world, his fan base rivaling and quite possibly surpassing that of some of opera’s greatest artists. To put it succinctly, he has known how to balance the fine line between classical and popular music. Because of Bocelli’s blindness, a challenge that he has had {…}
This week the Teatro Massimo di Palermo opens its production of Massenet’s “Werther” with two tenors. The first is Francesco Meli, a well-known performer who has scaled the heights of some of the world’s opera houses. However, the second tenor, Shalva Mukeria, will make his role debut and that is a reason for celebration. The tenor has been hailed by critics {…}
Juan Diego Flórez will perform Massenet’s “Werther” for the second time this season when he opens a new production of the famed opera at Opernhaus Zürich. The Peruvian tenor’s previous run of “Werther” in Teatro Comunale di Bologna was a massive success as the tenor, in his stage debut of the opera, encored the audience after the famed aria “Pourquoi {…}
On the surface, Christa Ludwig and Teresa Berganza have nothing in common, aside from the fact that they were born on the same day, March 16, and were two of the greatest mezzo-sopranos in history. But their repertoire was wildly different. Ludwig was best known for her native German repertoire while the Spaniard, Berganza, was famous for her work in {…}
This review is for the performance on Feb. 20, 2017. Taking in the experience of Massenet’s “Werther” is a rather fascinating one. Not because the music is without a doubt the composer’s finest creation or because the Metropolitan Opera’s production is a dramatic home run (more on that later). It has to do with audience interaction and engagement. Who would {…}
Massenet’s masterful “Werther” makes a return to the Met stage after a few years of absence. The opening performance is Thursday, Feb. 16, with subsequent showcases on Feb. 20, 23, 27 and March 4 and 9. The current production, which was directed by Richard Eyre, debuted back in 2014 with Jonas Kaufmann in his most recent role for the company. {…}
It’s Valentine’s Day, a momentous occasion to celebrate love and romance. Romance is at the heart of opera with the art forms pull coming from our connection with beautiful love affairs. Most everyone melts at Rodolfo and Mimì’s blooming love in “La Bohème” or Alfredo and Violetta’s in “La Traviata.” We admire the sacrifice of Roméo and Juliette or even {…}