Deborah Voigt News

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new series that presents great opera-themed movies that have been captured on film.

Washington National Opera (WNO) opens its 2013-2014 season with a production honoring the 200th birthday of one of opera's most renowned composers: Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, today, September 15 through the 27th in the Kennedy Center Opera House. This epic romantic drama stars Deborah Voigt as Isolde and Ian Storey and Clifton Forbis as Tristan, and will be seen in a production new to Washington directed by Neil Armfield in his WNO debut. WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin leads the WNO Orchestra in interpreting some of Wagner's most passionate and powerful music.

The editors of Opera News are pleased to announce the honorees for the ninth annual Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made invaluable contributions to the art form: director Patrice Chéreau, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, bass-baritone James Morris and soprano Nina Stemme. The Opera News Awards ceremonywill take place on Sunday, April 13 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

The Washington National Opera has announced that Deborah Voigt has withdrawn from their production of Tristan und Isolde, which opens September 15. She is sorry to have disappointed her fans, and has issued this statement: “Returning to a role that I love but haven't sung in a number of seasons, and encountering its unique challenges, has caused me to reconsider keeping it in my repertoire. I'm very disappointed that I feel compelled to withdraw from this production, but am very happy to continue my association with WNO both this season and into the future.” Voigt will still be serving this season as the first-ever artist-in-residence with WNO's Domingo-Cafritz young artist program.

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new series that presents great opera-themed movies that have been captured on film.

Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced that Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin will sing the role of Isolde in its season-opening production of Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Ms. Theorin will sing the performances on September 15, 18, 21, and 24. She replaces Deborah Voigt, who has withdrawn from the production. British soprano Alwyn Mellor will sing the final performance on September 27.

In his second season as General Music Director of the Zurich Opera, Grammy and ECHO Klassik Award-winner Fabio Luisi premieres important new productions of Beethoven's Fidelio and Verdi's Aida, and conducts revivals of Bellini's La straniera, Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Verdi'sDon Carlo with René Pape, which also serves as the vehicle for his return to the Teatro alla Scala. As distinguished in the concert hall as the opera house, he leads four orchestral programs with the Philharmonia Zurich, makes his long-awaited London Symphony Orchestra debut, and returns to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Cleveland Orchestra, with which he launches the new season. As Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, the distinguished Italian conductor leads productions of Puccini's Madama Butterflyand Rossini's comedy La Cenerentola, which will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world in the Met's celebrated Live in HD series.

Sing With Haiti presents a star-studded gala benefit concert to aid the rebuilding of the Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was destroyed in the earthquake of 2010. The Grammy Award-winning soprano Deborah Voigt - beloved for her performances on the opera, concert, and recital stage, as well as for her turns as host of the Metropolitan Opera's popular "Live in HD" series - will host the gala concert in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on Wednesday, October 2. This important event will include performances by Voigt as well as from "America's favorite mezzo" (Gramophone)Susan Graham, children's choirs from the Holy Trinity Music School, and other distinguished guests. A gala reception at the Fairmont San Francisco Hotelwill follow the concert.

For over 30 years, the Brooklyn-based Mark Morris Dance Group has enthralled critics, dance enthusiasts, and novices alike with its amazing technical expertise, unique artistry, and its signature use of live music. Pianists Anton Nel and Colin Fowler, and progressive New York orchestra The Knights join MMDG for two performances of Morris' celebrated evening-length piece Mozart Dances.

National Center Performing Arts in Mumbai has announced its upcoming September 2013 events. Details below!

National Center Performing Arts in Mumbai has announced its upcoming September 2013 events. Details below!

The Collegiate Chorale announces its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito on November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. Tickets will be available for sale on September 16 at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Single tickets for this concert start at $15. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert. (For more information or tickets to the Gala, please contact Mariane Lemieux at mlemieux@collegiatechorale.org or 646-435-9052.)

The new season sees Thomas Hampson – “America's foremost baritone” (International Herald Tribune) – return to the world's greatest opera houses and festivals, including London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, theBavarian State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he will make hisrole debut as the eponymous antihero of Berg's Wozzeck. Equally active on the concert stage, Hampson looks forward to collaborations with such top international orchestras as Washington's National Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, which he will join for a twelve-stop European tour. Having been hailed as “an artist fully in control of a remarkable instrument” (Los Angeles Times), the baritone will take his celebrated lieder recitals to London's Wigmore Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and to Coburg, Heidelberg, Brussels, and Berne. In the wake of his recent induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame, the baritone's star turn in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra – recorded live at the Vienna Konzerthaus – is due for September release on the Decca label.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will reach its widest-ever global audience in its eighth season, which begins on October 5 with a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Met Music Director James Levine makes his highly-anticipated return to the screen with Verdi's Falstaff on December 14 and the first Live in HD performance of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte on April 26. The Live in HD series, the world's largest provider of alternative content, reaches more than 1,900 theaters in 64 countries, and offers subtitles in nine languages, including Swedish for the first time this season. To accommodate audience demand in Europe, more than 85 cinemas have been added to the HD network in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The Coachella Valley's premiere theatrical venue, The McCallum Theatre, has added an exciting new array of offerings to its' already jam-packed upcoming seaon. Comedy, jazz, world music, country royalty, pop icons and first ladies of American song have been added to the roster of McCallum Theatre's 2013-2014 season. 'We are always looking to add performances with the broadest appeal to Valley audiences,' said Mitch Gershenfeld, President & CEO of the McCallum. 'We are pleased that several terrific shows became available after our subscription brochure went to press and delighted to add them to what is already an exciting and diverse season of world-class entertainment.'

Washington National Opera (WNO) opens its 2013-2014 season with a production honoring the 200th birthday of one of opera's most renowned composers: Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, September 15-27 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. This epic romantic drama stars Deborah Voigt as Isolde and Ian Storey and Clifton Forbis as Tristan, and will be seen in a production new to Washington directed by Neil Armfield in his WNO debut. WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin leads the WNO Orchestra in interpreting some of Wagner's most passionate and powerful music.

In an opulent kickoff to the new opera season,Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is hosting a black tie celebration honoring the lifetime achievements of international opera star Deborah Voigt. Hosted by event chairs Gloria Portal and Isa Leibowitz and entitled 'Smoke & Mirrors,' this lavish affair takes over the historic Alfred I. DuPont Building on October 26, 2013. Guests will enjoy an unforgettable evening of mystery and magic.

Joyce DiDonato stars as Mary, Queen of Scots, in the first-ever Met production of Donizetti's intensely dramatic historical opera Maria Stuarda, on Great Performances at the Met today, Sunday, July 14 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

The Collegiate Chorale will make its sixth appearance at the 20th Anniversary of the Verbier Festival from July 19-25, 2013, in concerts with Charles Dutoit, Christian Zacharias, and Valery Gergiev. The Collegiate Chorale cherishes a rich collaboration with the Verbier Festival since its first appearance at the festival under James Levine in 2005. The Chorale is thrilled to perform at the festival on its 20th anniversary and to celebrate a shared mission for artistic excellence and inter-generational exchange through music.