Alice Coote News

The great mezzo Joyce DiDonato stripped for her art at Sunday's wonderful performance of Handel's ALCINA with the English Concert under conductor Harry Bicket. For the first act, when she was still at the height of her powers as a sorceress, she came out in a gorgeous black and gray gown with the puffy sleeves she favors. Act II, she lost the sleeves but not the attitude, as her power waned. For the final act, powerless, she lost her petticoat and showed some leg. Oh yes: She sounded glorious all the while.

This season, celebrated mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato curates a multi-part Carnegie Hall Perspectives series that showcases her vocal creativity and multifaceted talents, ranging from programs that include familiar and forgotten repertoire from the Baroque and bel canto eras to works by Jake Heggie written expressly for her. Her series kicks off on Sunday, October 26 at 2:00 p.m. as she sings the title role in a concert performance of Handel's Alcina alongside Harry Bicket and The English Concert.

Outrage is ensuing as theatre critics walk a fine line between critique and insult. Comments over a young woman's physique in Glyndebourne's 'Der Rosenkavalier' opera has been the topic of criticism to many reviewers.

Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.

Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductor Harry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.

Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its concerts and events for February 2014. Scroll down for details!

Carnegie Hall has announced its January 2014 calendar updates. Details below!

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its concerts and events for February 2014. Scroll down for details!

One of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts world today, director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company with an already acclaimed new COC production of Handel's Hercules, based on Sophocles' timeless tragedy. Sellars propels the Greek myth of Hercules into the modern day, directing the same star-studded cast that premiered this production to unanimous praise at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2011: American bass-baritone Eric Owens as Hercules (COC debut); British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Hercules' wife Dejanira; American countertenor David Daniels as Hercules' trusted aide, Lichas; American tenor Richard Croft as Hercules' son, Hyllus; and British soprano Lucy Crowe as the princess Iole (COC debut). Internationally renowned Baroque specialist Harry Bicket leads the COC Orchestra and Chorus through Handel's glorious music. The ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles was also a war general who knew first-hand the devastating psychological traumas facing returning veterans. With Hercules Sellars creates a healing work in which the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications of reunion find their voice.

On Sunday, February 2, at 2:00 p.m., Harry Bicket conducts Handel's oratorio, Theodora, in concert at Carnegie Hall with acclaimed baroque orchestra The English Concert. In this concert production of Handel's second-to-last oratorio, celebrated countertenor David Daniels performs the role of Didymus opposite soprano Dorothea Roschmann (Theodora), leading a renowned cast including mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly (Irene), tenor Andrew Kennedy (Septimus), and bass-baritone Neal Davies (Valens), and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street led by Music Director Julian Wachner. Benjamin Sosland of The Juilliard School leads a pre-concert talk at 1:00 p.m. This concert marks the second year of multi-year Handel project by Harry Bicket, The English Concert and Carnegie Hall, following last February's Radimisto in which David Daniels sang the title role.

Carnegie Hall has announced its January 2014 calendar updates. Details below!

On Broadway, when a revival loses two out of three of its stars, the production might very well be put off until another season or, at worst, the producers might pack it in. In the opera world, companies don't have that luxury, particularly at a showplace like the Metropolitan Opera. Thus, we received Richard Strauss's DER ROSENKAVALIER, which made its season debut at the Met on Friday night, offering replacements in the two key roles of Sophie and Octavian, with variable results.

To commemorate the centennial of the opera's 1913 U.S. premiere at the Met, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier returns for a series of performances conducted by Edward Gardner and featuring a cast of international singers making company debuts and role debuts. Viennese soprano Martina Serafin sings her first Met performances of one of her signature roles, the Marschallin. Alice Coote, who currently stars as Detective Anne Strawson in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, sings the trouser role of the Marschallin's young lover, Octavian, while Mojca Erdmann makes her company role debut as Sophie, the innocent young woman who comes between the two. Peter Rose reprises his acclaimed interpretation of the Marschallin's oafish cousin, Baron Ochs; Hans-Joachim Ketelsen sings Sophie's protective father, Faninal; and Eric Cutler returns to the role of the Italian Singer. On December 3, German mezzo-soprano Daniela Sindram will make her Met debut as Octavian, a role she will also sing on December 7 and 10. On December 13, French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will sing her first company performance of Octavian. At the December 3 performance, two graduates of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program will sing principal roles: Erin Morley as Sophie and Mario Chang as the Italian Singer.

Erin Morley will sing the role of Sophie in all performances of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier this season, replacing Mojca Erdmann, who is still recovering from a recent case of pneumonia.

To commemorate the centennial of the opera's 1913 U.S. premiere at the Met, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier returns for a series of performances conducted by Edward Gardner and featuring a cast of international singers making company debuts and role debuts. Viennese soprano Martina Serafin sings her first Met performances of one of her signature roles, the Marschallin. Alice Coote, who currently stars as Detective Anne Strawson in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, sings the trouser role of the Marschallin's young lover, Octavian, while Mojca Erdmann makes her company role debut as Sophie, the innocent young woman who comes between the two. Peter Rose reprises his acclaimed interpretation of the Marschallin's oafish cousin, Baron Ochs; Hans-Joachim Ketelsen sings Sophie's protective father, Faninal; and Eric Cutler returns to the role of the Italian Singer. On December 3, German mezzo-soprano Daniela Sindram will make her Met debut as Octavian, a role she will also sing on December 7 and 10. On December 13, French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will sing her first company performance of Octavian. At the December 3 performance, two graduates of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program will sing principal roles: Erin Morley as Sophie and Mario Chang as the Italian Singer.

It's not everyday that you watch the interconnectivity of two separate people communicating via Internet chat room. Let alone, how about five people's conversations over several weeks with an entire chorus of “chaters” behind them. It adds up to quite the stack of transcripts. The idea, while seeming passé, remains a relevant topic to discuss and bring forward on the Met's stage. The usually very formal performance space was filled with internet lingo such as PWOS, A/S/L, LOL, WTF, and any abbreviationyou could think of. Nico Muhly's “Two Boys” is a new and innovative work that has extremely dark overtones both in the production as well as the musical aspects of the piece. “Two Boys,” with a libretto by Craig Lucas tells the story of a 16-year-old boy who is convinced by unknown people he has met through Internet chat rooms to attempt murder on his 13-year-old 'friend'.

Nico Muhly's opera Two Boys will have its North American premiere at the Met October 21, in a production conducted by David Robertson and directed by Bartlett Sher. The two-act opera, which features a libretto by award-winning playwright Craig Lucas, is loosely based on true events and follows a lonely detective whose investigation of a seemingly simple crime draws her into a complex web of online intrigue. Alice Coote sings the role of Detective Inspector Anne Strawson and Paul Appleby sings Brian, the 16-year-old boy at the center of her investigations. Sher's staging, a co-production with English National Opera, premiered in London in 2011. Check out a sneak peek below!

Nico Muhly's opera Two Boys has its North American premiere at the Met tiday, October 21, in a production conducted by David Robertson and directed by Bartlett Sher. The two-act opera, which features a libretto by award-winning playwright Craig Lucas, is loosely based on true events and follows a lonely detective whose investigation of a seemingly simple crime draws her into a complex web of online intrigue. Alice Coote sings the role of Detective Inspector Anne Strawson and Paul Appleby sings Brian, the 16-year-old boy at the center of her investigations. Sher's staging, a co-production with English National Opera, premiered in London in 2011.