Diana Damrau News

Hot on the heels of winning Gramophone magazine's 2010 Artist of the Year award, the vibrant mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will release her third Virgin/EMI solo album - Diva, Divo - on January 25.

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts-the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history-with a 22-week season featuring many of the world's greatest operatic artists, beginning December 18.

It's already been a red-letter autumn for the American mezzo-soprano, with DiDonato winning two prestigious 2010 Gramophone Awards - 'Artist of the Year' and 'Recital of the Year', as well as Germany's 2010 Echo Klassic 'Singer of the Year' Award. She continues her illustrious 2010-11 season with a December full of performances in another of her key roles, that of Octavian in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, at Madrid's Teatro Real. On her debut as Octavian in 2007 at San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Chronicle extolled her vocal art and dramatic verity: 'The evening's signal triumph belonged to Joyce DiDonato, undertaking Octavian for the first time and turning the role into something tender and strong. Her singing was robust and full of feeling, and she brought the technical precision and alertness of her finest Rossini and Handel performances to this very different stylistic strain. . . The result was a performance that seemed to breathe, displaying all the headstrong charm and mutability of this 17-year-old aristocrat still finding his way through the worlds of love and honor in 18th-century Vienna.'

It's already been a red-letter autumn for the American mezzo-soprano, with DiDonato winning two prestigious 2010 Gramophone Awards - 'Artist of the Year' and 'Recital of the Year', as well as Germany's 2010 Echo Klassic 'Singer of the Year' Award. She continues her illustrious 2010-11 season with a December full of performances in another of her key roles, that of Octavian in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, at Madrid's Teatro Real. On her debut as Octavian in 2007 at San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Chronicle extolled her vocal art and dramatic verity: 'The evening's signal triumph belonged to Joyce DiDonato, undertaking Octavian for the first time and turning the role into something tender and strong. Her singing was robust and full of feeling, and she brought the technical precision and alertness of her finest Rossini and Handel performances to this very different stylistic strain. . . The result was a performance that seemed to breathe, displaying all the headstrong charm and mutability of this 17-year-old aristocrat still finding his way through the worlds of love and honor in 18th-century Vienna.'

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts-the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history-with a 22-week season featuring many of the world's greatest operatic artists, beginning December 18.

On the heels of his success this summer at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where, almost 'steal[ing] the show' (Independent), he proved himself a 'thrilling Adorno' (Financial Times) opposite Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra, Joseph Calleja begins the 2010-11 season with his Houston Grand Opera debut in a new, opening-night production of Madama Butterfly. Calleja sings B.F. Pinkerton opposite soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who makes her role debut as the tragic Cio-Cio-San. The production team will be led by the renowned British director Michael Grandage, who received the 2010 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for Red, and who is celebrated by theater audiences for his productions of Hamlet and Frost/Nixon. The cast of Madama Butterfly will work under HGO Music Director Patrick Summers. The first performance on October 22 marks the opening night of the company's 2010-11 season, and the production runs through November 5.

On the heels of his success this summer at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where, almost 'steal[ing] the show' (Independent), he proved himself a 'thrilling Adorno' (Financial Times) opposite Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra, Joseph Calleja begins the 2010-11 season with his Houston Grand Opera debut in a new, opening-night production of Madama Butterfly. Calleja sings B.F. Pinkerton opposite soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who makes her role debut as the tragic Cio-Cio-San. The production team will be led by the renowned British director Michael Grandage, who received the 2010 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for Red, and who is celebrated by theater audiences for his productions of Hamlet and Frost/Nixon. The cast of Madama Butterfly will work under HGO Music Director Patrick Summers. The first performance on October 22 marks the opening night of the company's 2010-11 season, and the production runs through November 5.

he Metropolitan Opera's fifth season of free open dress rehearsals begins on October 8 with the company's new production of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, starring bass Rene Pape in the title role. Valery Gergiev conducts the production, which is directed by Stephen Wadsworth.

he Metropolitan Opera's fifth season of free open dress rehearsals begins on October 8 with the company's new production of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, starring bass Rene Pape in the title role. Valery Gergiev conducts the production, which is directed by Stephen Wadsworth.

Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.

Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.

Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series of live performance transmissions into movie theaters around the world, will expand in its fifth season to 1500 theaters (an increase of 300 theaters), while adding Egypt, Portugal, and Spain to its network of now 46 participating countries.

London's Wigmore Hall celebrates its 110th Anniversary during the 2010-2011 Season. For one hundred ten years, the Hall has served the global musical community, of extending a 550-seat venue's reach across oceans and continents, launching careers of the next generation of musicians, presenting a familiar and beloved stage for familiar and beloved artists, and offering repertory not often heard on other stages.

Washington National Opera (WNO), under the leadership of General Director Plácido Domingo, presents the company premiere of Ambroise Thomas' rarely performed masterpiece Hamlet in seven performances, May 19 to June 4 at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

In this evening's performance of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Barry Banks will sing the role of Count Almaviva, replacing Lawrence Brownlee, who is ill.

Seven new productions, including two company premieres and the first two parts of a new Ring cycle, featuring many of the world's greatest singers and conductors, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2010-11 season.

The Metropolian Opera has announced their 2010-2011 season. The season will include productions directed by Broadway Tony Winner Bartlett Sher and Nicholas Hytner.

Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez star in La Fille du Régiment, Donizetti's comedy about the tough-hearted young woman who was rescued and raised by the 21st regiment of the French army, and her romance with a hapless soldier-suitor.

In this evening's performance of Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment, Leah Partridge will sing the title role and Lawrence Brownlee will sing Tonio, replacing Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez, who are ill.