Russell Thomas

Lyric Opera of Chicago Unveils Details for CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & PAGLIACCI
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Sep 25, 2025

Lyric Opera of Chicago will present a murderous double feature of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci — known collectively as Cav/Pag — two timeless operas that ignite music’s most incendiary emotions.

Red Theater Announces Cast, Creative Team Of KAIROS By Lisa Sanaye Dring
by A.A. Cristi - Mar 26, 2025

Red Theater has announcef the cast and creative team for our premiere of Lisa Sanaye Dring's Kairos, directed by Artistic Director Clare Brennan, running April 23 - May 18, 2025 at The Edge Off Broadway.

Finnish National Opera And Ballet Announces 2025/2026 Season
by Joshua Wright - Mar 26, 2025

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has announced its 2025–2026 season which features new contemporary operas, romantic ballet gems, and pulsating street dance The Opera and Ballet season 2025–2026 is a celebration of emotions. We move from one extreme to another, from dark tones towards light and vice versa.

MEDEA, SALOME and More Set for Lyric Opera of Chicago 2025/26 Season
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Mar 11, 2025

Lyric Opera of Chicago has revealed the company’s 2025/26 Season, its first complete season featuring Medea, Salome and more. See full programming and learn how to purchase tickets.

Interview: Ludovic Morlot of LES TROYENS IN CONCERT at McCaw Hall
by Erica Miner - Jan 13, 2025

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’s epic masterpiece, Les Troyens à Carthage. The SO adaptation, Part 2 of Berlioz’s monumental opera, Les Troyens, the pinnacle of the composer’s life work, begins with the arrival of the great warrior Aeneas at Carthage and ends with the tragic immolation of Queen Dido.

Review: Strauss’s Powerhouse FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN Casts Big Shadow at the Met
by Richard Sasanow - Dec 7, 2024

Richard Strauss’s DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW), with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, has made a triumphant return to the Met with a stellar cast and the Met Orchestra in peak form under Yannick Nezet-Seguin. It dazzled and glowed like few other evenings in recent memory, in a production by Herbert Wernicke, who died young, not long after its debut in 2001.

Hector Berlioz's LES TROYENS to be Presented at Seattle Opera This Winter
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Dec 5, 2024

Seattle Opera will present this January a concert rendering of Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens—an epic tale of fate, love, and betrayal that is as grand in scope as it is rarely performed. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Video: First Look At DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN At Metropolitan Opera
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 29, 2024

Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to lead Strauss’s grand mythological epic in Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten. See video highlights from the production.  

Photos: BEETHOVEN'S NINTH SYMPHONY at San Francisco Opera
by Blair Ingenthron - Oct 27, 2024

Check out photos from San Francisco Opera's October 26th performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Eun Sun Kim, here!

Video: 'wer Ein Holdes Weib Errungen' from Beethoven's FIDELIO at Lyric Opera of Chicago
by Joshua Wright - Oct 10, 2024

Watch the joyful finale of Beethoven's FIDELIO where Leonore (Elza van den Heever) and Florestan (Russell Thomas) celebrate freedom and love after Pizzaro's corrupt schemes are exposed. Check out the video!

Video: Beethoven's FIDELIO at Lyric Opera of Chicago
by Stephi Wild - Sep 26, 2024

Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio will return to the Lyric stage for the first time in 20 years, running September 26 to October 10. Check out a first look in the video here!

Review: TOSCA, Royal Opera House
by Franco Milazzo - Jul 2, 2024

Fronted by some fresh faces, Jonathan Kent’s cinematic take on the Puccini masterwork Tosca returns for its seventeenth run at Covent Garden. 

TOSCA Comes to the Royal Opera House This July
by Stephi Wild - Jun 6, 2024

This July, The Royal Opera will present Jonathan Kent’s classic production of Puccini’s Tosca. The composers most dramatically charged work; this timeless staging receives its 15th revival since its premiere in 2006 with two leading international casts. 

Review: TURANDOT at LA Opera
by Andrew Child - May 22, 2024

A sharp blade wielded threateningly, forced perspective creating looming palatial walls, the rotting heads of failed suitors, and a princess literally shrouded in mystery quickly orient us within Puccini’s iconic fairytale.

LA Opera to Present World Premiere Of Joel Thompson's FIRE AND BLUE SKY
by Chloe Rabinowitz - May 9, 2024

LA Opera will present the world premiere of a major new commission: the orchestral song cycle Fire and Blue Sky by Emmy-winning composer Joel Thompson and librettist Imani Tolliver. Learn how to purchase tickets !

Photos: Babes With Blades Theatre Company's World Premiere THE S PARADOX Opens Tomorrow
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 12, 2024

Babes With Blades Theatre Company’s 2024 season opens with The S Paradox, written by Joining Sword & Pen International Playwright Competition (JS&P) and Margaret W. Martin Award Winner Jillian Leff, directed by Morgan Manasa with fight direction by Samantha Kaufman at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St. See photos from the production.

Video: Watch 'Nume custode e vindice' from Verdi's AIDA at Lyric Opera of Chicago
by Joshua Wright - Apr 2, 2024

Watch as inn Act One of Verdi's AIDA, the high priest Ramfis (Önay Köse in his Lyric debut) calls on the gods to protect Egypt as they prepare for battle in Lyric Opera's production of the beloved opera. Check out the video!

Video: Russell Thomas Performs 'Celeste Aida' from Verdi's AIDA at Lyric Opera of Chicago
by Joshua Wright - Mar 27, 2024

Get a first listen to the beginning of Act One, where Verdi gives Radamès (sung here by Lyric favorite Russell Thomas) one of the most challenging and iconic tenor arias in the repertoire — 'Celeste Aida.' Hear this hope-filled aria in Verdi's AIDA, onstage through April 7. 

Video: Watch 'Triumphal March' from Verdi's AIDA at Lyric Opera of Chicago
by Blair Ingenthron - Mar 24, 2024

For the first time in more than a decade, Verdi’s romantic and political drama Aida has returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago through April 7, 2024. Watch footage from the production's 'Triumphal March' here!

Shereen Pimentel and Brenton Ryan To Lead WEST SIDE STORY At Houston Grand Opera; Full Season Announced
by A.A. Cristi - Mar 21, 2024

Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2024-25 season, which includes a concert presentation of the Broadway masterpiece, West Side Story, led by Broadway's Shereen Pimentel and tenor Brenton Ryan.