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BWW Review: An Opera Grows in Brooklyn, Part I - LoftOpera Takes on TOSCA by Richard Sasanow
- March 15, 2016 On the surface, LoftOpera and Regina Opera couldn't be more different--the former turning away hipsters in East Williamsburg (call it Bushwick), the latter providing a matinees-only environment for a family audience. But these two Brooklyn institutions do have one important thing in common: They respect the classics (TOSCA and LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, respectively)--do them up simply and well, and reach their audiences without gimmicks (or high prices). And, I found, their performances were more enjoyable than recent big-name outings of the same titles in New York, with performers who stood up well against better known names.
Sarasota Opera to Close Verdi Cycle with VERDI FESTIVAL WEEK, Today by BWW News Desk
- March 15, 2016 Sarasota, FL – Sarasota Opera's 2016 Winter Opera Festival season, a landmark in the company's 57 year history, will mark the final year of the Verdi Cycle, a 28-season initiative to perform the complete works of Giuseppe Verdi. The season will culminate in a Verdi Festival Week March 15 – 20 which will include performances of Verdi's Aida and The Battle of Legnano, two concerts of Verdi's music, a retrospective exhibit on the Verdi Cycle, an International Verdi Conference, and many more commemorative events. At the conclusion of the Verdi Cycle, Sarasota Opera will be theonly company in the world to have performed every work of Giuseppe Verdi.
Opera San Jose to Present Previn's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE by BWW News Desk
- March 14, 2016 Faithfully following Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, André Previn's opera tells the story of Blanche DuBois, a fading though still attractive Southern belle whose poise is a persona she presents to shield others, but most of all herself, from her delusions of grandeur. Moving into her sister's cramped apartment, and creating all the wrong kinds of sparks with her crude and cruel brother-in-law, the dark truths about Blanche's past begin to emerge, and her world comes apart at the seams in a downward spiral.
Five Young Singers Named 2016 Winners of The Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions by BWW News Desk
- March 13, 2016 ?After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five young singers as the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.
New Amsterdam Opera Appoints Keith Chambers as Artistic Director by Louisa Brady
- March 12, 2016 New Amsterdam Opera is proud to announce the appointment of Keith Chambers as Artistic Director. His distinctive style, impressive talent, and unique vision make him the perfect candidate to lead this vibrant new opera company in fulfilling our mission of Opera with a Purpose... To Enchant, Enlighten, & Engage!
LA Opera Opens MADAME BUTTERFLY Tonight by BWW News Desk
- March 12, 2016 LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season continues with Giacomo Puccini's beloved Madame Butterfly, starring soprano Ana María Martínez as Cio-Cio-San.
Boston Lyric Opera to Present WERTHER, Today by BWW News Desk
- March 11, 2016 Boston, MA – February 16, 2016 – Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) unleashes Jules Massenet's melodic, romantic French opera Werther from its late 18th Century German source material, bringing it to an early-20th-Century arrondissement outside Paris as part of BLO's French-inspired season. This new production of Werther opens March 11 for a five-performance run at Citi Performing Arts CenterSM Shubert Theatre in Boston.
San Francisco Opera to Launch SF Opera Lab Series with WINTERREISE by BWW News Desk
- March 11, 2016 San Francisco Opera's SF Opera Lab opens its inaugural season with innovative programming that celebrates the power of the human voice theatrically in intimate spaces, including the state-of-the-art Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco Opera's new Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera.
Sondra Radvanovsky to Star as Queen Elizabeth I in Met Opera's ROBERTO DEVEREUX by BWW News Desk
- March 10, 2016 Sondra Radvanovsky completes her season-long quest to sing the leading roles in all three operas in Donizetti's Tudor queens trilogy on March 24, when she stars as Queen Elizabeth I in the Met premiere of Roberto Devereux. Radvanovsky gave acclaimed performances as Anne Boleyn in Anna Bolena and Mary, Queen of Scots in Maria Stuarda earlier this season. Her performances in Roberto Devereux will make her the first singer since Beverly Sills in the 1970s to perform all three roles in a single New York season.
Houston Grand Opera Announces 2016–17 HGO Studio Artists by BWW News Desk
- March 09, 2016 After an international search, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has chosen three new singers and one new pianist/coach for the 2016-17 HGO Studio. The artists are Yelena Dyachek, soprano, the Ana Maria Martinez Encouragement Award recipient at Concert of Arias 2016; Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano, the second-place prize winner at Concert of Arias 2016; Sol Jin, baritone, the Audience Choice Award winner at Concert of Arias 2016; and Peter Walsh, pianist/coach. One of the most respected and highly competitive young artist programs in the world, the HGO Studio provides comprehensive career development to young singers, pianist/coaches, and conductors who have demonstrated potential to make major contributions to the field of opera. The HGO Studio received applications from 475 artists; of those, about 275 were heard in auditions in Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. For singers, the audition process culminates in HGO's annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, held this year on February 4.
Houston Grand Opera Announces 2016–17 HGO Studio Artists by BWW News Desk
- March 09, 2016 Houston, March 7, 2016—After an international search, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has chosen three new singers and one new pianist/coach for the 2016–17 HGO Studio. The artists are Yelena Dyachek, soprano, the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award recipient at Concert of Arias 2016; Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano, the second-place prize winner at Concert of Arias 2016; Sol Jin, baritone, the Audience Choice Award winner at Concert of Arias 2016; and Peter Walsh, pianist/coach. One of the most respected and highly competitive young artist programs in the world, the HGO Studio provides comprehensive career development to young singers, pianist/coaches, and conductors who have demonstrated potential to make major contributions to the field of opera. The HGO Studio received applications from 475 artists; of those, about 275 were heard in auditions in Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. For singers, the audition process culminates in HGO's annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, held this year on February 4.
BWW Review: Captivating REQUIEM from Brahms, New York Philharmonic and New York Choral Artists by Richard Sasanow
- March 09, 2016 Brahms wasn't having a midlife crisis when he composed his masterwork, EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM (A GERMAN REQUIEM), his meditation on death. In fact, he was only 33 when he started writing it in 1866 and had written sections of the opening as early as 1861. His reasons for taking on the piece are unclear, though his mentor, Robert Schumann, had died in 1856 (and his mother would die before it was finished), deeply affecting him. Let's just call him “interested in death,” but that doesn't mean there was anything deathly about the performance of the hour-long work at the New York Philharmonic, heard last weekend. Conducted by the great Brahms specialist, Christoph von Dohnanyi, with the ample contributions of the New York Choral Artists, under Joseph Flummerfelt, and soloists Camilla Tilling and Matthias Goerne, the performance was transcendent.
NC Opera to Present THE BARBER OF SEVILLE in April by BWW News Desk
- March 08, 2016 To conclude its 2015/16 Season, North Carolina Opera will present fully-staged production of Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE on Friday, April 1 at 8pm and on Sunday, April 3 at 3pm at Meymandi Concert Hall in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.
Breaking News! The Kennedy Center and WNO Announce 2016-17 Season - Partnerships With Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, and Q-Tip and More! by BWW News Desk
- March 08, 2016 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced programming for the 2016–2017 season for the Center, the National Symphony Orchestra, and Washington National Opera. Under President Deborah F. Rutter's continued leadership, the Kennedy Center is re-imagining ways of presenting the arts in the 21st century through interdisciplinary programming, immersive audience engagement, and a focus on artist-centric programming. The 2016–2017 season includes significant and institution-wide initiatives from the yearlong celebration marking the Centennial of John F. Kennedy's birth, to three newly appointed Artistic Partners who will lead these artistic and community initiatives (Yo-Yo Ma, Rene?e Fleming, and Q-Tip), and the support of American programming. With more than 2,000 performances across many artistic genres, the Center continues its tradition as the nation's center for the performing arts, commissioning, producing, and presenting the finest of local, national, and international arts. The 2016–2017 season includes 25 commissioned or co-commissioned works and projects across the Center's full range of artistic disciplines.
Aleksandra Kurzak & Vittorio Grigolo to Star in Met Opera's L'ELISIR D'AMORE by BWW News Desk
- March 08, 2016 Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore returns to the Met stage on March 10 starring Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak and Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo as the two young lovers, Adina and Nemorino. Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola makes his company debut leading performances of Bartlett Sher's 2012 staging. Alessandro Corbelli sings the role of Dulcamara, the loveable con man who sells the “magic elixir” of love, along with Adam Plachetka as the sergeant Belcore, who attempts to court Adina. Mario Chang and Pietro Spagnoli sing the last two performances on April 2 and 7 as Nemorino and Dulcamara respectively.
BBW SPECIAL: Jade Esteban Estrada joins Texas Light Opera by Backstage Bunny
- March 08, 2016 Jade Esteban Estrada, who just completed an Australian run of his solo musical comedy, 'ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1' as part of the 2016 Fringe World Festival in Perth, has just joined Texas Light Opera (www.texaslightopera.org) as an artistic advisor. His first role in this new capacity is co-director with Vaughn Taylor of 'Make Me a Musical', which opens at Performing Arts San Antonio (PASA) on April first for a three week run.
Met Opera Announces Finalists in Vocal Competition by BWW News Desk
- March 08, 2016 Following yesterday's highly competitive semi-final competition, nine young singers will advance to the final phase of the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 National Council Auditions, America's most prestigious vocal competition. The selected finalists, chosen by a panel of experts from the classical music industry, will compete on the Met stage on Sunday, March 13 at 3 p.m. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000 and the prestigious-and potentially career-launching-title of National Council Auditions Winner. The Grand Finals Concert will feature Antony Walker conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as each finalist performs two arias.
IL DIVO NERONE - OPERA ROCK, Global Debut in Italy by Valeria Venturelli
- March 08, 2016 In the Summer 2016 a new, musical version of Emperor Nero will flame in Rome again. 'Divo Nerone - Opera rock', is going to be an unprecedented challenge.
Debutto mondiale di IL DIVO NERONE - OPERA ROCK, una colossale opera musicale made in Italy by Valeria Venturelli
- March 08, 2016 A partire da giugno 2016 Roma rivivra, esattamente nei luoghi che hanno fatto la storia, i fasti imperiali, grazie all'impegno produttivo dell'Artisti Associati&Partners che porta in scena il piu sensazionale spettacolo d'intrattenimento made in Italy mai realizzato.
Photo Flash: First Look at Houston Grand Opera's PRINCE OF PLAYERS by BWW News Desk
- March 07, 2016 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the world premiere of PRINCE OF PLAYERS by distinguished American composer Carlisle Floyd on March 5, 11, and 13, 2016. A chamber opera in two acts, PRINCE OF PLAYERS is a high-spirited period piece that examines the fluidity of sexuality and gender roles. Scroll down for a first look at the cast onstage!
Canadian Opera Company Launches App by BWW News Desk
- March 07, 2016 Single tickets to the Canadian Opera Company are easier to purchase than ever before as the opera company introduces afree new app in time for its spring 2016 productions of Carmen and Maometto II. TheCanadian Opera Company app is now available in Apple's App Store and Google's Google Play.
Houston Grand Opera Premieres Carlisle Floyd's PRINCE OF PLAYERS Tonight by BWW News Desk
- March 05, 2016 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of Prince of Players by distinguished American composer Carlisle Floyd tonight, March 5, and March 11 and 13, 2016. A chamber opera in two acts, Prince of Players is a high-spirited period piece that examines the fluidity of sexuality and gender roles.
Arizona Opera Set Performs DON GIOVANNI in Tucson This Weekend by BWW News Desk
- March 05, 2016
The man, the myth and the legend. Mozart's Don Giovanni comes to the Arizona Opera stage this weekend, March 5-6, in Tucson Music Hall. Don Giovanni is sung in Italian with English supertitles.
RIGOLETTO, Featuring Pavarotti, Up Next at Merola Goes to the Movies by BWW News Desk
- March 04, 2016 The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch present a free screening of Verdi's opera RIGOLETTO at the next Merola Goes to the Movies, on Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm, in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch (100 Larkin Street). Admission is free.