The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2018-19 season with a number of the greatest stars performing in new productions. The season will also include two important recitals from two of the world’s greatest sopranos. Recitals & Concerts Anna Netrebko returns to Chicago for the first time since 2013 when she performed “La Bohème.” This time she performs some {…}
This weekend, the Metropolitan Opera’s famed Live in HD series returns with Puccini’s “Tosca.” The production by David McVicar stars Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo, and Zeljko Lucic, with Emmanuel Villaume conducting. The production premiered on New Year’s Eve 2017 and has divided critics left and right. Of this cast, OperaWire’s David Salazar wrote, “Yoncheva, Grigolo, Villaume Not Ready for Primetime,” {…}
This review is for the performance on Friday, January 12th, 2018. In keeping with the spirit of verismo, Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Tosca” offered one of the most realistic portrayals of Puccini’s celebrated work. The set may as well have been a window to another time thanks to the care taken by the creative team headed by John Macfarlane. As {…}
This review is for the performance on Jan. 4, 2018. It was the most hotly anticipated production of the new Met season, the run-up to its unveiling on New Year’s Eve as big a melodrama as the opera itself, filled with unexpected twists and turns. And like the opera itself, where its final act feels like an anti-climax after the {…}
The weekend is always crowded and filled with a number of performances for audiences to choose from. Over the past year, we have put out lists of all the performances happening around the world in order to inform audiences what is being performed. But after analyzing the audience response, we thought of changing it up a bit. Instead of overwhelming {…}
Boleslaw Barlog and Jürgen Rose’s production of Richard Strauss’ “Salome” was first performed in 1972, under the direction of Karl Böhm, with Leonie Rysanek in the title role. It has now notched-up well over 200 performances and is still going strong. After 45 years you would be forgiven for thinking that it may have lost some of its sheen, that {…}
On Sept. 21, 2017, the Vienna State Opera will present Richard Strauss’ early masterwork “Salome” as part of its live streaming service. The performance kicks off at 8 p.m. local time and runs through 9:45 p.m. with no intermissions. The work will feature Gun-Brit Barkmin in the title role while Zeljko Lucic will play her obsession Jochanaan. As Herodias, audiences {…}
If there was one event that opera lovers couldn’t miss this week, it was the return of Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The baritone was joined by Anna Netrebko and her Husband Yusif Eyvazov in a sold out concert that included some of the greatest hits in opera and a number of Russian selections. The performance was a big hit and Hvorostovsky showed his {…}
Are you excited for the weekend? Well, we are as you will get to hear some of the most exciting stars singing in the world’s leading opera houses. Check it out right here! Austria At the Vienna State Opera, audiences will get the chance to see Puccini’s “Turandot” with a star-studded cast including Elena Pankratova, Heinz Zednik, Ryan Speedo Green, {…}
The Houston Grand Opera makes a big return as opera companies slowly but surely get prepared for the spring. Houston’s opening comes on Friday Jan. 20 with a production of John Adams’ “Nixon in China.” Scott Hendricks, Andriana Chuchman and Chad Shelton lead the production which will also take the stage on Sunday, Jan. 22. The Metropolitan Opera continues its {…}
Verdi’s “Rigoletto” returns to the Met stage on Friday, Jan. 20 in a lengthy run through February and then a few days in April. Olga Peretyatko and Željko Lučić will be the production’s mainstays, singing every single presentation of the work this season. This will be the Lučić’s fourth run of “Rigoletto” at the Met, byt far his most performed {…}
