Richard Strauss News

San Francisco Opera's production of Richard Strauss'Elektra opens in a new staging by acclaimed English director Keith Warner at the War Memorial Opera House on Saturday, September 9. Absent from the Company's repertory for two decades, Strauss' 1909 opera, with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and based on the Greek tragedy by Sophocles, returns with a powerful cast headlined by soprano Christine Goerke in the title role. Hungarian conductor Henrik Nanasi makes his Company debut leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra

San Francisco Opera inaugurates its 95th season on Friday, September 8, with Puccini's Turandot, staged in the iconic production by English artist David Hockney and conducted by Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti, and two opening night galas. Saturday, September 9 features the opening of a new production of Richard Strauss' Elektra. The festivities continue on Sunday, September 10, with San Francisco Chronicle Presents Opera in the Park, an annual Bay Area tradition celebrating the opening of the opera season with a free concert in Golden Gate Park.

The University Musical Society of the University of Michigan (UMS) announces that British actor Jeremy Irons will be the Speaker for the Hill Auditorium performance of Bernstein's Symphony No. 3 ('Kaddish') that closes the 2017 New York Philharmonic residency on Sunday, November 19.

The New York Philharmonic will present Bernstein's Philharmonic: A Centennial Festival, October 25-November 14, 2017,celebrating the former Philharmonic Music Director and Laureate Conductor on the centennial of his birth. The festival - which is part of the worldwide salute to the legacy of the renowned composer, conductor, pianist, and educator - will center on Bernstein's symphonic cycle, conducted by Alan Gilbert and Leonard Slatkin, complemented by other Bernstein works as well as by music by composers he admired and championed. In addition, the Philharmonic will present a Young People's Concert - the series that Bernstein famously brought to national attention through the television broadcasts - titled Inspirations and Tributes: "Celebrating Leonard Bernstein," conducted by Leonard Slatkin and featuring pianist Makoto Ozone on November 11. A number of other events - ranging from a marathon of Bernstein's Mahler recordings to a partnership with Harvard and University of Michigan to explore Bernstein as an educator and conductor - complement the concerts throughout the centennial season. Bernstein served as the Philharmonic's Music Director from 1958 to 1969, when he was named Laureate Conductor, a title he held until his death in 1990.

On September 11th at 4 PM, Utah Opera in partnership with the University of Utah School of Music hosts world-renowned soprano Renee Fleming at Libby Gardner Hall in an eye-opening free lecture exploring the connections between music, health, and the brain. "Music & The Mind" is an hour-long multimedia presentation with Renee Fleming and Norman L. Foster, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Senior Investigator of The Brain Institute at the University of Utah and Director of the Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging and Research. Tickets are not required but seating is limited and first come first served - doors open at 3:30 pm.

Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) proudly announces its second season, featuring a new production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Performances will be Saturday, August 26; Tuesday, August 29; and Today, September 1 at 7:30PM at the historic Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

The New York Philharmonic's Marie-Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen and Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Leif Ove Andsnes will both launch their 2017-18 Philharmonic residencies in a Scandinavian-themed program led by Paavo Jarvi.

San Francisco Opera celebrates the opening of its 95th Season with Opera in the Park, presented by the San Francisco Chronicle, at Sharon Meadow in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Sunday, September 10 at 1:30 p.m. This free concert features acclaimed artists from the Company's 2017 Fall Season performing arias and other operatic favorites with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti. In the event's time-honored finale, the audience joins with the singers for a rousing rendition of the brindisi (drinking song) from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock serves as master of ceremonies for the afternoon.

A new recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor and Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, 'Emperor' is now available on Decca Records (8808678135671) featuring acclaimed conductor JoAnn Falletta leading the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with soloist Norman Krieger.

Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) proudly announces its second season, featuring a new production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Performances will be Saturday, August 26; Today, August 29; and Friday, September 1 at 7:30PM at the historic Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

Bookings open today for The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Cape Town Opera's DUET GALA CONCERT, which takes place on 24 October. South African tenor, Levy Sekgapane, a first prize winner of Placido Domingo's prestigious Operalia 2017 competition, will headline the one-night-only concert at the Artscape Opera House in support of the fundraising efforts of The Duet Endowment Trust.

Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) proudly announces its second season, featuring a new production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Performances will be Today, August 26; Tuesday, August 29; and Friday, September 1 at 7:30PM at the historic Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

The Canadian Opera Company opens its 2017/2018 season with the lush orchestration and soaring vocal lines of Richard Strauss' lyrical comedy about love, money and sex, Arabella.

The Met's first new production since 1969 of Strauss's rich, romantic masterpiece stars Renée Fleming in one of her signature roles as the Marschallin, opposite El?na Garan?a as Octavian, the impulsive young title character, on Great Performances

The 2017 national radio broadcast series of San Francisco Opera performances on the WFMT Radio Network begins on Saturday, September 2 with a 1979 archival broadcast of Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda. The cast features soprano Renata Scotto in the title role and tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Enzo Grimaldi, each singing their role for the first time on any stage.

San Francisco Opera announced today a casting update for its season-opening production of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, running from September 8 through 30 at the War Memorial Opera House. American soprano Toni Marie Palmertree will sing Liu, replacing Maria Agresta who has withdrawn due to illness. Originally scheduled to portray Puccini's tragic heroine on September 24 and 30, Palmertree will now perform in all six September performances.

Season 2017 programs This summer 's fully-staged opera production is W. A. Mozart's well-known Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), a story of love and dedication overcoming trials and separation. The music will be sung in German, but director Grant Preisser has created new English dialogue to fit in with his avant-garde concept of the opera. Preisser's career has started to take off, and he has spent the last two summers working at Music Academy of the West, where he was Assistant Director for two productions in 2017. He has also done scenic and costume design for Opera Orlando.

The 27th annual Arizona Musicfest festival season brings a diverse lineup of exceptional artists to Valley audiences from country superstars Mary Chapin Carpenter and Lee Ann Womack to Broadway legends Chita Rivera and Tommy Tune, and from famed singer/pianist Michael Feinstein to internationally celebrated Pink Martini and the iconic bandleader/trumpeter Doc Severinsen.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic will commence its 19th concert season with Opening Night: Don Juan - Cabrera Conducts Strauss, Adams & Brahms on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 7:30 PM in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.  Music Director Donato Cabrera will host a pre-concert conversation in Reynolds Hall one hour prior to the performance (6:30 PM) for patrons who want to learn more about the history and meaning behind the music to be performed that evening.  Following the performance, the Philharmonic will host a champagne, wine and dessert reception on-stage ($50 per person) to toast to the new season. 

The New York Philharmonic's Box Office opens today, August 8, 2017, for the 2017-18 season. Single tickets for all concerts and events are now available for purchase online at nyphil.org, by phone at (212) 875-5656, and in person at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. Curated, Matinee, Young People's Concerts, Very Young People's Concerts, and Create Your Own subscription series continue to be on sale.