(Photo Credit: Sunny Martini) Immense goodwill was palpable all through the theater on the opening night of Seattle Opera’s first fully staged live production in 18 months, Puccini’s “La Bohème.” The company adroitly produced its full 2020-21 subscription season through online streaming during the pandemic, so clearly everyone was ecstatic to be back in the theater in person. Lobby areas {…}
(Credits: Andreas Endermann / Michael Taubenheim) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced cast changes for concert performances “Best of Don Carlo.” The company announced that bass Ante Jerkunica will perform the role of Philippo II instead of Ildar Abdrazakov and Romanian baritone Bogdan Baciu will sing the role of Rodrigo, Marquis di Posa, replacing Davide Luciano. The opera house previously {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / Deutsche Oper Berlin official website) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that the mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili has canceled her participation in concert performances “Best of Don Carlo” in the role of Eboli. As a result, Judit Kutasi will perform the role. Kutasi will join the cast that includes Yosep Kang as Don Carlo, Davide Luciano as {…}
(Credits: Dario Acosta / Opéra National de Paris official website / Fay Fox) The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that it will reopen its doors to the audiences in June 2021, after seven month-long hiatus. Per the official press release, the reopening is epidemiologically possible as the seven-day COVID-19 incidence in Berlin has gone below the critical value of 100. {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced its 2021-222 season. The season opens with “La Bohème” starring Kang Wang, Yosep Kang, Talise Trevigne, Michael Chioldi, John Moore, Ginger Costa-Jackson, Brandie Sutton, Ashraf Swailam, Federico de Michelis, Eugene Villanueva, Theo Hoffman, and Barry Johnson. Joseph Colaneri conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 16-30, 2021 Key’mon Murrah, Christopher Ainslie, Sharleen Joynt, Deanna Breiwick, and Shelly Traverse {…}
A few week’s ago, our quiz focused on Chinese composer Tan Dun. This week we continue to spotlight Asian opera artists, but this time shifting our focus to the singers dominating the world stages. So for this quiz, we will offer up a prompt and it will be your job to pick which singer it best applies to. As always, {…}
(Credit: Johannes Ifkovits) Piotr Beczala has canceled performances of Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” in Berlin. The Deutsche Oper Berlin announced via social media that Beczala was ill. The company stated, “Due to problems with his vocal chords, Piotr Beczala has to cancel his performances as Gustaf III in ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ on 15/19/23 Sept at the Deutsche Oper.” As {…}
Semperoper Dresden has announced two cast changes for its final performance of Puccini’s “La Bohème” on July 12, 2019. Israeli soprano Hila Baggio will sing Musetta and Belarussian tenor Pavel Valuzhin will sing Rodolfo, replacing Iulia Maria Dan and Yosep Kang, respectively. Baggio made her company debut when she replaced Dan, who is ill, on July 7. She has performed {…}
The Seattle Opera is the first major opera company to announce its 2019-20 season, which will feature five operas and a special concert. Productions Verdi’s “Rigoletto” will open the season in August with a cast that features Lester Lynch and Giuseppe Altomare in the title role. Madison Leonard and Soraya Mafi take on Gilda while tenors Yongzhao Yu and Liparit {…}
Bryan Hymel has canceled his upcoming performances of Meyerbeer’s “Les Huguenots.” The Opéra National de Paris announced that due to illness, Bryan Hymel would be replaced by Yosep Kang in the role of Raoul de Nangis. The announcement comes a week before the opening of the highly anticipated production, which is slated to be one of the season’s highlights and also {…}
No one ever pretended that opera was a cheap art form. As an extreme example, the Salzburg Festival has a budget of over 60 million euros for just six weeks, making its balance sheet the envy of several small Pacific island states. But even in countries with an immense musical patrimony such as Italy, there is a tendency for populist {…}