Jamie Barton News

Park Avenue Armory will embark on the eighth year of its Recital Series, a series of intimate chamber music performances in the austerely elegant Board of Officers, intended to continue the salon tradition of chamber music performances. The 2020 Recital Series will open with two performances by young Italian soprano Rosa Feola, Monday evening, January 13, 2020 and Wednesday evening, January 15, 2020, both at 7:30pm.

a?oeSecret love bound by silence.a?? Once the most performed opera of its time, Donizetti's bel canto drama, La favorite, features some of the most challenging arias ever written. Woven into this nowa?"rarely performed opera is a classic love triangle among a noblewoman, king and warrior. Set in early 14th century Spain, this triangle involves the King of Castile Alphonse XI, the beautiful Léonor and a novice monk, Fernand. In the background, the Moors have invaded Spain, and a power struggle has begun between church and state. Opera powerhouse and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton and international star Lawrence Brownlee return to Houston for this HGO premiere. World-renowned opera, film, theater and event director Kevin Newbury directs La favorite.

It's hard to imagine the logistics in putting together a complex program like the one that the audience at Carnegie Hall was treated to on Sunday evening for the 2019 RICHARD TUCKER GALA. But New York-born conductor James Gaffigan pulled it off wonderfully with the help of members of the Met Orchestra and the New York Choral Society--and a gaggle of amazing singers, beginning with this year's winner of the Tucker Award, Lisette Oropesa.

With apologies to Gluck, “Che faremmo senza Jamie Barton?”—'Where would we be without mezzo Jamie Barton?”--in the revival of Mark Morris's production of ORFEO ED EURIDICE at the Met, under Mark Wigglesworth's firmly rhythmic baton. ORFEO, written in the mid-18th century, was an opera of a different stripe for its time. (The Met uses the 1762 Vienna version, one of many.) It leans heavily on dance and choral singing, as well as recitative.

a?oeI am very optimistic about opera in America,a?? says OPERA America President/CEO Marc A. Scorca. a?oeWhen I entered the industry decades ago, new American operas were rarely commissioned or performed. Today, the flow of creativity from American composers, librettists, directors and designers has generated an American opera repertoire that spans the gamut of styles and subject matter.a??

'I am very optimistic about opera in America,' says OPERA America President/CEO Marc A. Scorca. 'When I entered the industry decades ago, new American operas were rarely commissioned or performed. Today, the flow of creativity from American composers, librettists, directors and designers has generated an American opera repertoire that spans the gamut of styles and subject matter.'

In the video below, Jamie Barton sings an excerpt from Orfeo's Act III aria in the final dress rehearsal. Production: Mark Morris. Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth.

Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, an operatic fable about the power of music, returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 2011 for seven performances beginning October 20, 2019.

The Last Night of the Proms is the culmination of the world's biggest musical festival. It's less a concert, more a cultural experience. The Royal Albert Hall is transformed with flags, banners, balloons and a tangible party atmosphere. The occasional glimpse of an inflatable flamingo or helium parrot just added to the evening's charm and eccentricity.

Award-winning podcast, 'The Guilty Feminist' will travel to the BBC Proms on Saturday 14 September for a unique episode looking back at the 2019 season ahead of the Last Night of the Proms.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, will begin its 14th season on October 12, with the Met's production of Puccini's Turandot, starring Christine Goerke in the title role, led by the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announces single tickets to the 2019a?'20 season will be available on Monday, Aug. 5 at HGO.org. There is truly something for everyone in HGO's 65th season, which features a diverse set of operas containing epic biblical dramas, love triangles, dangerous curses, heart-filling family narratives, stories of true love, tales of revenge, and whimsical quests.

Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, under the leadership of artistic director Brian Zeger, announces its 2019-20 season of opera and vocal arts performances. Highlights of the upcoming season include three mainstage operas: Mozart's Così fan tutte, conducted by alumnus Nimrod David Pfeffer and directed by faculty member David Paul, on November 13, 15, and 17, 2019, in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater; Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's MetLiveArts and the New York Philharmonic with Juilliard singers, conducted by Daniela Candillari and directed by Louisa Proske, on February 8, 11, 12, and 14, 2020, in the Charles Engelhard Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Puccini's La bohème, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson and directed by Stephen Wadsworth, on April 22, 24, and 26, 2020, in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2019-2020 Live in HD season of satellite transmissions to movie theaters worldwide begins Oct. 12 with the late Franco Zeffirelli's sumptuous production of Puccini's "Turandot." The series brings live Met performances to movie theaters and performing arts centers in more than 70 countries on six continents, including Gettysburg College's Majestic Theater. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, July 17 at noon.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, the 2019 Richard Tucker Gala, on Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 6:00pm in Stern Auditorium Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

San Francisco Opera presents Antonin Dvo?ak's Rusalka at the War Memorial Opera House, June 16-28, in David McVicar's "thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly executed" (Chicago Tribune) production. The Czech fairy tale opera features a cast headed by Rachel Willis-Sorensen in her role debut as Rusalka,Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, Jamie Barton as Ježibaba, bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as Vodnik and Sarah Cambidge as the Foreign Princess. South Korean maestra and Houston Grand Opera Principal Guest Conductor Eun Sun Kim leads the cast and San Francisco Opera Orchestra in her first Company engagement. Chorus Director Ian Robertson prepares the chorus.

San Francisco Opera presents Anton n Dvo k's Rusalka at the War Memorial Opera House, June 16 28, in David McVicar's thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly executed (Chicago Tribune) production. The Czech fairy tale opera features a cast headed by Rachel Willis-S rensen in her role debut as Rusalka, Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, Jamie Barton as Je ibaba, bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as Vodn k and Sarah Cambidge as the Foreign Princess. South Korean maestra and Houston Grand Opera Principal Guest Conductor Eun Sun Kim leads the cast and San Francisco Opera Orchestra in her first Company engagement. Chorus Director Ian Robertson prepares the chorus.

The Santa Fe Opera's General Director Robert K. Meya today announced repertory and casting for the company's exciting 64th Season in 2020. On the panel joining Meya for the announcement were the President of the Board of Directors Susan G. Marineau, Andrea Fellows Walters, Director of Community Engagement, and Cori Ellison, the company's first, recently appointed Dramaturg.

The Atlanta Opera broke new records this season. Even before its final presentation Francesca Zambello's new take on La traviata, which closed this past weekend 2018-19 was already guaranteed to be the company's highest-grossing season of the past decade, highlighted by last fall's West Side Story, the highest-selling production in the Atlanta Opera's 39-year history (Opera News).

The Metropolitan Opera has named soprano Lisette Oropesa as the winner of the 14th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award. The $50,000 award is given to extraordinarily gifted singers with rising Met careers. Given in honor of the legendary American soprano Beverly Sills, the award was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met's Board of Directors.