Alfred Walker News

As only the third American opera company in history to reach this centennial milestone, the Company’s 2022–23 Season will honor San Francisco Opera’s glorious past while inviting the public into an exciting new era of musical excellence under Kim’s music directorship and a renewed commitment to innovation.

There are so many things to like about the season’s revival of Gershwin’s PORGY & BESS, which was new in the 2019-2020 season, before Covid became the “song” that no one wanted to hear. PORGY on the other hand, is the music that everybody can take a liking to, with its fluid combination of opera, Broadway musical and versions of spirituals and Gullah folk music that nobody ever heard before. It has been best known for its songs, which have become “standards” in the Broadway songbook. The stylistic shifts in the complex, yearning, comic score are handled mightily by the Met’s game orchestra under David Robinson.

The Metropolitan Opera has posted a video from the final dress rehearsal of their production of Porgy and Bess. In the video, Janai Brugger sings Clara’s Act I aria 'Summertime', conducted by David Robertson.

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess will return to the Met for 13 performances, October 31–December 12, 2021. The classic American opera features many artists from the triumphant 2019–20 production’s Grammy Award-winning cast. Eric Owens and Angel Blue star as the title couple, with conductor David Robertson on the podium.

Boston Lyric Opera  opens its new season October 1 @ 7:30 PM and October 3 @ 3 PM with the company's first production of “Cavalleria Rusticana,” composer Pietro Mascagni's one-act verismo tale of love, betrayal and death in a small Sicilian village. 

The Met’s popular Summer HD Festival returns on Saturday, August 28, featuring a lineup of ten free encore presentations from the company’s popular Live in HD series, as well as a special pre-festival screening of Susan Froemke’s acclaimed documentary The Opera House.

San Francisco Opera inaugurates its 99th season and first under the baton of Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, with five performances of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, August 21–September 5.

We board the Magic Opera Flying Carpet on Saturday morning, July 24, and go straight to the Bay Area for San Francisco Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra.Soprano Christine Goerke stars in the title role. Director Keith Warner’s production blurs the line between past and present, myth, and reality. Conductor Henrik Nánási debuts.

After Hours: Songs of Protest honors and celebrates a wide range of passionate music that galvanizes activists for social justice. This program of iconic songs, made famous by performers like Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Sam Cooke, is specially curated by Host and Artist in Residence Russell Thomas. Soprano Brandie Sutton, baritone Justin Austin.

Washington Concert Opera has announced their 2021-2022 season. This year marks the organization’s 35th anniversary and WCO is excited to celebrate that milestone with a return to live season productions (venue TBA) and with the return of their popular series, Opera Outside, which will bring two free concerts to Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. 

San Francisco Opera announced today repertory, casting and reopening plans for its 99th season. Commencing with a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca on Saturday, August 21, the 2021–22 Season marks the inauguration of Eun Sun Kim’s tenure as Caroline H. Hume Music Director and a reemergence of opera at the War Memorial Opera House.

San Francisco Opera's weekly, free opera streams continue in July with Janáček's intense family drama Jenůfa (July 10–11), Berlioz's massive epic Les Troyens (The Trojans) (July 17–18), Strauss' emotional thriller Elektra (July 24–25) and Verdi's Tyrolean tragedy Luisa Miller (July 31–August 1).

The Met has announced themed lineups for three weeks of its Nightly Met Opera Streams, the company's ongoing series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on its website during the Covid-19 closure. The schedule begins with a week, leading up to Father's Day on June 20, comprising a selection of operas featuring themes of fatherhood.

Today (June 4) in live streaming: a Kate & Allie reunion on Stars in the House, Alex Newell visits Backstage Live, and more!

The Metropolitan Opera announced today the premiere of Yannick: An Artist’s Journey, a new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, about the inspiring path of Yannick Nézet-Séguin to becoming the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director.

The Met has announced themed lineups for two weeks of its Nightly Met Opera Streams, the company’s ongoing series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on its website during the Covid-19 closure.

Michigan Opera Theatre has announced the postponement of their upcoming performance of Cavalleria Rusticana. performance of Cavalleria Rusticana. The production was supposed to be performed at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre on May 15, 2021 but it was postponed to June 12, 2021, to allow for more favorable weather conditions.

Today (April 23) in live streaming: Lesli Margherita chats on Clubhouse, Romeo & Juliet premieres on PBS Great Performances, and more!

Today's top stories: check out the first trailer for new online series The Bite, starring Audra McDonald, Phillipa Soo, Beth Leavel, and more! Plus, the producers of the UK tour of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert respond to casting controversy, and more!

On Wednesday, April 21, We begin this week’s tour with one of the Los Angeles Opera website’s most popular “Living Room Recitals.” Soprano, Latonia Moore sings with pianist Roberto Berrocal. After the recital, we leave for NYC. On arrival, we go to Shut Up and Eat, a most generous Toms River restaurant that offers a discount to patrons in pajamas.