Rafael Davila News

Sometimes you hear a singer who embodies a role so completely that it’s hard to imagine her in anything else. That’s how I felt about the wonderful mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina, who’s singing the title role in the Met’s new production of Bizet’s CARMEN, which I saw at its second performance. Her portrayal was as full-bodied as her voice and she sizzled, filling up the stage as much as one can imagine. It’s little surprise that she’s considered the Carmen of the moment, having appeared in seven other productions (with two to come).

Experience the powerful drama of Verdi's Nabucco as it returns to the Metropolitan Opera this September. Learn about the dates and ticket information for this must-see production. Don't miss your chance to witness this epic performance.

Opera Colorado has announced that single tickets for the 2023-24 Season will be available starting Tuesday, August 1 at 10:00 a.m. MST.

Rafael Davila will sing the role of Radamès in Verdi's Aida on Sunday, April 30. Jorge de León will sing the role on May 6 (evening), May 10, May 13 (matinee), and May 18, replacing Marcelo Álvarez who has withdrawn due to illness. 

Last season, the company gave its first presentation of the French version (that’s the one called DON CARLOS, with a final S to his first name), in the five-act version that lasted almost 5 hours. This year, we’re back to Italian, under Carlo Rizzi’s firm baton, in one of a number of versions (this one running about 4 hours) of DON CARLO, which uses shortcuts to tell the story elements deleted with the excision of the first act (usually referred to as “the Fontainebleau scene”).

Starting Saturday, November 6, Opera Colorado presents Tosca at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House for four performances only. This lavish production of Puccini's operatic blockbuster is Opera Colorado's first performance at the Ellie Caulkins Opera house since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place in March 2020, causing all mainstage productions for the next eighteen months to be cancelled or postponed. 

Opera Naples will present “Florida Tosca and Friends,” starring Jennifer Rowley on May 30.

The final opera of the 2020 Winter Opera Festival is a new production of La Wally (pronounced a?oelah vahLEEa??) by Alfredo Catalani, a work not seen in the U.S. for more than 30 years.

Director Olivier Tambosi's production of Manon Lescaut, composer Giacomo Puccini's first triumph, returns to San Francisco Opera for six performances on the War Memorial Opera House stage, from November 8 through the 26th.

Director Olivier Tambosi's production of Manon Lescaut, composer Giacomo Puccini's first triumph, returns to San Francisco Opera for six performances on the War Memorial Opera House stage, from November 8 through the 26th. +

Victor DeRenzi, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, and Richard Russell, Executive Director, are pleased to announce the casting for the 2019-20 season at Sarasota Opera, welcoming back returning Sarasota audience favorites as well as introducing new artists for their company debuts.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced repertory and casting for the Company's 97th Season, opening Friday, September 6, 2019, with a gala performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet (Rom o et Juliette) starring tenor Bryan Hymel and soprano Nadine Sierra in Op ra de Monte-Carlo Director Jean-Louis Grinda's production. In keeping with the Company's time-honored tradition, the new season will be inaugurated with San Francisco Opera Guild's elegant, signature benefit and celebration, Opera Ball 2019.

Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning's popular Music Mondays series features informal performances and lively conversations with renowned performers and conductors. Monday Music sessions are held on Mondays through March 26. The morning sessions, hosted by Edward Alley, are 10:30 a.m. at Church of the Palms, 3224 Bee Ridge Road. Afternoon sessions, hosted by Dr. Joseph Holt and Robert Sherman, are at 3 p.m. at Venice Presbyterian Church, 825 The Rialto. Tickets are $10 per session. To purchase tickets, visit www.sillsarasota.org. For more information, call 941-365-6404.

Arizona Opera is proud to present the first Mainstage production of its 2017/18 Season, Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, one of the most exciting and dramatic operas of all time.

Audiences have only four more chances to see Florida Grand Opera's (FGO) acclaimed production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), which Lawrence Budmen in South Florida Classical Review, calls 'a world-beater.

Excitement is building as Florida Grand Opera (FGO) prepares to open its production of one of Verdi's greatest works, Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), a searing drama of royal intrigue and the conflict between duty and following one's heart. Long considered one of the ultimate challenges for the world's greatest singers of the Italian repertoire, including Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, and Plácido Domingo, Un ballo in maschera comes to Florida Grand Opera for the first time since 2005, with a cast of some of the finest singers available on the international opera scene.

A tortuous love triangle involving the King of Sweden. A mysterious fortune teller who predicts that the King will soon die. An assassination plot. Few of Giuseppe Verdi's operas contain as many bewitching elements as his 1859 masterpiece Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), which opens at Florida Grand Opera on April 29, 2017, in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County's Ziff Ballet Opera House.

Rafael Davila will sing the role of Don Jose in the January 31 and February 3 performances of Bizet's Carmen, replacing the originally scheduled Marcelo Álvarez, who is ill.

It's that time of the year again, when the flu season gives artistic administrators big headaches, trying to fill in the blanks when a headliner calls in sick. CARMEN's been a particular headache, with mezzo Sophie Koch out of action in the title role after rehearsals had started. Luckily, Clementine Margaine--scheduled for the second cast--was able to step into her flamenco shoes for the first night--and all to follow--doing a bang-up job.

The world premiere production of Bel Canto the Opera - recorded in Chicago last January - airs on Great Performances Today, January 13 at 9 p.m. on PBS.