OPERA INTERVIEWS

A bold statement of opera industry solidarity with the Washington National Opera was issued following the news of the company's decision to leave Kennedy Center. A group of more than 60 opera industry leaders, including John Adams, Kevin Puts, Kelli O'Hara, Joyce DiDonato, John Corigliano, Isabel Le...

Not long ago, I was sitting in a café in midtown Manhattan with Beth Morrisson, president and creative producer of Beth Morrison Projects (BMP). BMP has been pushing the boundaries of traditional opera for 20 years and is now sole curator, producer and presenter of the indie-opera/music theatre Pro...

Celebrated choreographer and director Lynne Hockney has been involved in Sir Peter Hall’s iconic version of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne since 2001. Now playing for the first time in the venue’s Autumn season, the production has been revived regularly since it...

As a dramatic soprano, Alexandra LoBianco is accustomed to performing some of the most challenging roles in the repertoire, including Leonore in “Fidelio,” with the Vienna State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Brünnhilde in “Die Walküre,” Minnie in “La fanciulla del West,” with Des Moi...

It's a long way from Santiago to the West End. Isabela Díaz explains how she did it and what the Jette Parker Programme means to its artists...

BroadwayWorld chats with San Francisco Opera's Carrie-Ann Matheson about the 2025 Merola Summer Festival featuring four different musical events from June 26 to August 16....

Playwright Peter Danish—a long-time writer and observer of the opera and classical music scene in New York and around the world—wrote LAST CALL, just finishing a limited run at Broadway’s New World Stages, as a love letter to two 20th century music giants, Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Kar...

The Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY) under Maestro Kent Tritle brings the world premiere performance of ALL SHALL RISE, by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell, to Carnegie Hall on May 5. It concludes their American Voices trilogy of choral works—this one about the history of voti...

An intrepid British fringe opera company and its dauntless conductor-arranger have taken on a bold project that has defeated any number of high-profile companies. ...

Following his triumph in Seattle Opera’s celebrated Samson and Delilah in Concert in 2023, Seattle Symphony Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot will helm an unprecedented operatic event in January 2025: the SO premiere of Les Troyens in Concert, a rarely performed abridged version of Hector Berlioz...

Today’s subject Anita Yavich is currently living her theatre life both locally and on Broadway. Her costume designs can currently be seen in Roundabout Theatre Company’s current production of Yellow Face and starting October 25th her work will be onstage at Kennedy Center in the Opera House with...

Kelley Rouke was driving when she received a text from Mark Campbell informing her that she was the winner of Opera America’s 2024 Campbell Opera Librettist Prize. Her reaction? She answered, “Stop it! It’s mean. Never joke about that!” because she couldn’t quite digest that she’d been c...

The Minnesota Opera's rendition of La Bohème will grace the stage of the Ordway Music Theater from May 4th to May 19th, 2024. The enchanting music is composed by Giacomo Puccini, with a compelling libretto crafted by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica....

It’s a big season at the Met for tenor Jonathan Tetelman—born in Chile, raised in New Jersey—and he’s taking every advantage of it. He’s come to town with a reputation as a Puccini specialist (not that there’s anything wrong with that). How does he feel about that? “Well, I basically ...

Today’s subject Katherine Goforth is someone who can definitely be called a breakthrough artist to be sure. She is the inaugural recipient of Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers. She will be making her Kennedy Center debut on May first at 6:00pm wi...

Have you ever wondered where the story of “Rent” or “Love Story” came from? Puccini’s classic opera has inspired generations with its true-to-life story of Rodolfo and Mimi — star-crossed lovers. With the romantic score and soaring melodies of Puccini, La Bohéme is the perfect opera for...

BroadwayWorld Toronto spoke to ALL IS LOVE star Brueggergosman-Lee about her love for the show and the company, the importance of taking risks, and how her upcoming Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award is really an encouragement to keep creating....

“I think the story is about survival, and about people sheltering one another,” director Mary Birnbaum told me in our conversation about EMIGRÉ, the oratorio that features what she called “composer Aaron Zigman’s sweeping score” and the “complex storytelling” by librettist Mark Campbe...

Today’s subject Jeanine Tesori is a two-time Tony Award winning composer whose work spans the gamut from large scale and chamber musicals for Broadway to grand opera and beyond. Her holiday children’s opera The Lion, The Unicorn and Me premiered ten years ago at Kennedy Center as a commission fo...

Broadway legend Audra McDonald returns to LA Opera backed by the LA Opera Orchestra and her four-piece ensemble (led by musical director Andy Einhorn) December 2, 2023. Be prepared to experience the stunning vocals of six-time Tony winner singing her expansive Broadway and opera repertoire filling t...

Today’s subject Sir Bryn Terfel is a Grammy, Classical Brit, and Gramophone Award–winning recording artist with a discography encompassing operas of Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, and more than 15 solo discs including Lieder, American musical theatre, Welsh songs, and sacred repertory. He is, righ...

Nearly a decade ago, when composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell started work on an operatic version of Stephen King’s novel “The Shining” for the Minnesota Opera they were dealing with one of the most popular psychological thrillers of the 20th century—as well as one of the scar...

This absolute gem of a piece tells the story of Sylva Varescu, a successful cabaret performer who falls in love with a nobleman. Can their love survive the pressures of society? Full of lush melodies, humor, emotion and wit, you’ll see and hear why Die Csárdásfürstin (The Csardas Princess) ...

My journey with The Flying Dutchman has been almost as long as his. I was enthralled by the story as a child – a sailor who lost a bet with the Devil! – and then, twenty-five years ago, wrote a 10,000 line epic poem called Time’s Fool, where I substituted an endless ghost train for the cursed ...

After being seen on Broadway in the 2012 revival of Godspell, Celisse has toured with acts like Brandi Carlile, Dave Matthews Band, John Legend, and John Mayer. Now, she has partnered with the new company, Catapult Opera, to create a 30-minute opera and short film entitled “When All I Knew Changed...