Jonas Kaufmann News

An exciting winter lineup is on the bill at the Fugard Bioscope this July and August. The programme includes screenings of the best of world theatre, opera and ballet productions from companies such as the National Theatre, Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and Royal Opera House, to be enjoyed from the comfort of a Fugard Theatre seat.

I first heard tenor Roberto Alagna in the days when he was being touted as “The 4th Tenor”—chutzpah that only a record company could come up with, placing him in the hallowed company of Carreras, Domingo and Pavarotti. Fast forward more than 20 years and he's still here. As Cyrano, the soldier-poet with a nose that embarrasses him, in Francesca Zambello's attractive production, Alagna was wonderful—perhaps the best I've ever seen him.

Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce the line-up for the 2017 season of 'HD at the Opera House'.  This weekly Sunday afternoon series of filmed performances, which debuted in 2014, has allowed Sarasota Opera to expand its programming from the fall and winter season to year-around.

Soprano Amber Wagner, a 2010 George London Award Winner, and baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., who won his George London Award in 2015, make their New York recital debuts at the final program in the George London Foundation Recital Series, and the final event in the foundation's season, on Sunday, April 2, 2017, at 4:00 pm. Alan Darling is the recital's pianist; a reception with the artists follows the concert.

The Aram Khachaturian International Competition announces its first-ever vocal competition will take place in Yerevan, Armenia from June 4-16, 2017. Under the patronage of the First Lady of the Republic of Armenia Rita Sargsyan, the competition is open to young singers between the ages of 18-35 years of age (all voice types, except countertenor), regardless of citizenship or nationality.

Tenor Vittorio Grigolo always seems most at home on stage when he's living close to the edge--portraying a character who's losing control (or about to) of his emotions. It was true earlier this season as Romeo, in Gounod's ROMEO ET JULIETTE at the Met opposite Diana Damrau and, in 2015, as Chevalier Des Grieux in Massenet's MANON, also with Damrau. (Might as well add Offenbach's Hoffmann to the mix.) Well, Massenet's back at the Met with WERTHER, also starring the gorgeous, sultry-voiced mezzo Isabel Leonard and all should be well with the world, with Grigolo as the poet who's losing his head (and mind) over a woman who can't (or won't) reciprocate. And yet…

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

Cape Town was at its finest this past Sunday when the Fugard Theatre hosted a reception in their breathtaking rooftop bar to announce the programme of The 2017 Fugard Bioscope World Arts Cinema Season before a screening of The National Theatre's thrilling production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA.

Sony Music Masterworks and AimHigher Entertainment are pleased to announce a new worldwide distribution deal. Founded by entertainment industry veterans Monica and Kevin Fitzgibbons, AimHigher Entertainment is home to two labels: De Montfort Music and AimHigher Recordings.

The progressive New York City-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider celebrates the release of its new collaborative album with Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in a concert on Today, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. The album, So Many Things-to be released by Naive Records on September 30-features new works by the quartet's violinist and founding member Colin Jacobsen ("For 60 Cents") and by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw ("Cant voi l'aube"). Both were commissioned by Carnegie Hall for its 125 Commissions Project and will receive their New York premieres at the October 13 concert.

The progressive New York City-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider celebrates the release of its new collaborative album with Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in a concert on Thursday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. The album, So Many Things-to be released by Naive Records on September 30-features new works by the quartet's violinist and founding member Colin Jacobsen ("For 60 Cents") and by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw ("Cant voi l'aube"). Both were commissioned by Carnegie Hall for its 125 Commissions Project and will receive their New York premieres at the October 13 concert.

Listen to Jonas Kaufmann's heartfelt version of the Godfather theme 'Parla più piano' - now also available on Spotify & Amazon: https://SonyClassical.lnk.to/JK-ParlaPiuPiano

Puccini's lush classic Manon Lescaut airs on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met Saturday, August 13 at 11 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera on Friday, August 26 at 9 p.m.)

?The French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) is thrilled to present an HD Opera screening straight from the Opera de Paris, capturing every detail of Alvis Hermanis' stunning production of The Damnation of Faust, on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at 7pm at FIAF's Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, betw. Madison and Park.

I'm just in awe of this kid, what she's done and accomplished

Tenor Matthew Polenzani--he of the refined singing, elegant deportment and serious nature--is having a great season at the Met, with major roles in a pair of new productions. First, he was Nadir, whose love for the priestess Leila (Diana Damrau) tempts her to give up her vows in Bizet's LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (THE PEARL FISHERS). Now he's working his mojo on no less than Elisabetta (Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen of England), in the new production of Donizetti's ROBERTO DEVEREUX at the Met, premiering March 24.

The Ridgefield Playhouse for Movies and the Performing Arts has announced its March 2016 and continuing spring 2016 lineup. Scroll down for details!

Take one part “Casablanca,” a taste of Bernstein's CANDIDE, some Alfred Hitchcock and you get Sir Richard Eyre's film noir concept for the Met's new MANON LESCAUT, now set in France in the 1940s, complete with Nazis. Tack on that behind-the-scenes drama of “Roberto Alagna to the rescue”--when tenor Jonas Kaufmann cancelled at the last minute--and add the visual and vocal glamour of soprano Kristine Opolais and you have, well, a messy-but-enjoyable evening at the opera.

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

 The Met stage ignites when soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Jonas Kaufmann join forces in Puccini's obsessive love story.