Susan Graham News

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) announced today the four-year appointment of Pablo Heras-Casado as Principal Conductor, effective immediately.

Tanglewood, one of the world's most beloved music festivals and the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, celebrates its 75th anniversary season, June 22-September 2, with a spectacular lineup of musical guests and programs that spotlight Tanglewood's rich tradition of presenting summertime concerts at their best since 1937.

Baroque opera productions can go wrong in so many ways. With their recitatives, lone arias and what some call 'repetitious' or 'continuous' sound, boredom can easily spell failure. The key, then, to an entertaining, attention-grabbing Baroque opera lies with the staging - the proper use of the stage, interaction of characters and energetic acting. With its intriguing sets and singers that glide over their often improvised coloratura notes, San Francisco Opera's production of Handel's 'Xerxes' knows how to make Baroque opera interesting.

When the Houston Grand Opera's 2011-12 season - its 57th - opens officially on October 21 with a new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, the company begins a new era under the leadership of Patrick Summers.

To kick off the 2011-12 season, Susan Graham - 'America's favorite mezzo' (Gramophone magazine) - makes her much-anticipated Canadian Opera Company debut on Thursday, September 22, headlining the company premiere of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride with the role that has become her 'calling card' (New York Times).

The Met's popular free Summer HD Festival returns for the third year beginning on Saturday, August 27 in Lincoln Center Plaza with Donizetti's Don Pasquale starring Anna Netrebko, conducted by Maestro James Levine.

Due to weather reports that predict hurricane-force winds and rain for New York City this weekend, the Metropolitan Opera has cancelled the first two Summer HD Festival outdoor screenings on Lincoln Center Plaza, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The Met's popular free Summer HD Festival returns for the third year beginning on Saturday, August 27 in Lincoln Center Plaza with Donizetti's Don Pasquale starring Anna Netrebko, conducted by Maestro James Levine.

The seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented on Sunday, April 29 at The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars.

Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius XM (Channel 74) will celebrate the 40th anniversary of James Levine's Metropolitan Opera debut with a full week of Levine performances. Fifteen historic performances, three of which join the archival rotation on Sirius XM for the first time, will air in rotation for an entire week, beginning May 30 and ending June 5. The broadcasts will be introduced by Levine and other artists, some of whom will also pay tribute to the Met Music Director's extraordinary career in special segments between operas.

Marvel at some of the most spectacular coloratura arias in the repertoire when Houston Grand Opera presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, April 29 - May 10, 2011, featuring three glamorous and acclaimed sopranos; Christine Goerke (Prima Donna / Ariadne) Susan Graham (Composer) and Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta).

Marvel at some of the most spectacular coloratura arias in the repertoire when Houston Grand Opera presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, April 29 - May 10, 2011, featuring three glamorous and acclaimed sopranos; Christine Goerke (Prima Donna / Ariadne) Susan Graham (Composer) and Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta).

Houston Grand Opera House Presents Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos Friday April 29, 2011 - Tuesday May 10, 2011 at Brown Theater A feast for the eyes and for the ears, Strauss's elegant and moving meditation on the conventions of the theater pits a comedienne against a prima donna at a high-society dinner party in Vienna.

The complete list of presenters at the sixth annual Opera News Awards, which will take place on April 17 at The Plaza in New York City, has been announced: beloved singer Barbara Cook will present the award to tenor Jonas Kaufmann; iconic film director Francis Ford Coppola will present to conductor Riccardo Muti; legendary soprano Renata Scotto will present to soprano Patricia Racette; conductor Andrew Davis will present to soprano Kiri Te Kanawa; and award-winning playwright John Guare will present to bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.

Broadway icon Patti LuPone and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe will co-host the sixth annual Opera News Awards, which will take place on April 17 at The Plaza in New York City.

Marvel at some of the most spectacular coloratura arias in the repertoire when Houston Grand Opera presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, April 29 - May 10, 2011, featuring three glamorous and acclaimed sopranos; Christine Goerke (Prima Donna / Ariadne) Susan Graham (Composer) and Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta).

The complete list of presenters at the sixth annual Opera News Awards, which will take place on April 17 at The Plaza in New York City, has been announced: beloved singer Barbara Cook will present the award to tenor Jonas Kaufmann; iconic film director Francis Ford Coppola will present to conductor Riccardo Muti; legendary soprano Renata Scotto will present to soprano Patricia Racette; conductor Andrew Davis will present to soprano Kiri Te Kanawa; and award-winning playwright John Guare will present to bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.

Marvel at some of the most spectacular coloratura arias in the repertoire when Houston Grand Opera presents Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, April 29 - May 10, 2011, featuring three glamorous and acclaimed sopranos; Christine Goerke (Prima Donna / Ariadne) Susan Graham (Composer) and Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta).