Angela Meade News

The Met has announced the Weeks 10 and 11 schedules for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure. 

While McCaw Hall's stage may be dark, opera music continues to reverberate in the Pacific Northwest and beyond: Starting every Saturday on April 25, enjoy Seattle Opera Mornings on King FM. Classical KING FM 98.1 will broadcast recordings of previous Seattle Opera performances including Tosca, La traviata, The Magic Flute, and Madame Butterfly. Broadcasts will be available on the radio and at king.org every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. 

Luckily for viewers on the Metropolitan Opera's “Met on Demand”—with selections available free in this time of COVID-19, on your laptop or as apps for your phone or tablet—there were a couple of knee-slappers thrown in among the drama of AIDA, PARSIFAL and ROMEO ET JULIETTE this week. Two of my favorites were there: Donizetti's DON PASQUALE and Verdi's FALSTAFF.

Broadway might be dark this month, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway today, April 8, 2020.

The Met on Demand had another week of exciting performances, from the divine [Rossini's IL  BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA] to the, well, the divine [Adams's NIXON IN CHINA].

The Met has announced the Week 4 schedule for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure. The week begins with Verdi's Aida, starring Anna Netrebko in the title role.

The Met's first cancellation due to coronavirus concerns was the revival of Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA, the opera retelling of the Cinderella story, set to star mezzo Tara Erraught in the title role and one of its biggest tenor stars, Javier Camarena as Don Ramiro, her prince. The opera holds a particular place in Camarena's history at the Met: It made him an overnight sensation when he was tapped to replace Juan Diego Florez and blew the roof off--a real-life Cinderella story.

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prizea?"up from $15,000, the first increase since 1998a?"and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Following yesterday's semi-final competition, nine young singers have advanced to the final round of the Metropolitan Opera's 2020 National Council Auditions. In the public concert, finalists perform on the Met stage Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m., for an audience of judges, agents, industry leaders, and the general public (in the auditorium and live on the radio). The finalists, chosen by a panel of opera administrators from the Met and other companies, each perform two arias with the Met Orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Prize money will increase for the first time in 20 years, with the winners receiving individual cash prizes of $20,000 (previously $15,000), and the prestigious and potentially career-launching title of National Council Auditions Winner. The remaining finalists receive $10,000 (previously $7,500).

On Saturday evening February 22, 2020, Los Angeles Opera presented a vocally glorious rendition of Gaetano Donizetti's Bel Canto opera Roberto Devereux. Roberto was one of the loves of England's Elizabeth I, so the opera is centered around their relationship and Roberto's forbidden love for Sara, the wife of the Duke of Nottingham.

Soprano Angela Meade will perform the role of Queen Elizabeth I in LA Opera's production of Roberto Devereux. Ms. Meade replaces Davinia Rodríguez, previously announced for the role, who has withdrawn from the production due to illness.

The 23 young opera singers who have won regional auditions around the United States will compete in the semifinal round of the country's leading vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, on Monday, February 24. The closed semifinal competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition-the Grand Finals, which is open to the public and will be held on the Met stage on Sunday, March 1.

Today, the Metropolitan Opera announced its 2020-21 season, the first in which Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumes his full breadth of musical duties as the company's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducting six productions. His schedule includes the Met premiere of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, the first contemporary opera conducted by the maestro on the Met stage, as part of his ongoing commitment to opera of our time at the Met, which will expand in the seasons to come.

Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and CEO/Executive Director John Mangum, holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, announced the details of the 2020a?"21 season, Orozco-Estrada's seventh as music director. Orozco-Estrada and the Houston Symphony enter the next decade of music-making with works by Beethoven, in honor of his  250th birthday celebration; new music from contemporary composers; Symphony Specials with pianists Lang Lang and Leif Ove Andsnes; solo performances from Concertmaster Yoonshin Song and other Houston Symphony musicians; and a new, three-year Artistic Partnership with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman. 

Seattle Opera has just unveiled its 2020/21 season-a year that highlights opera's rich past, and its bold, diverse future. Audiences will be treated to beloved classics Tosca and Don Giovanni, as well as a contemporary work Flight, inspired by the true story of stateless refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who was stranded for 18 years and forced to live in the Charles de Gaulle airport. The romantic comedy The Elixir of Love and the double-bill Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci will all be performed for the first time in decades.

The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) has unveiled details for BrAVA Philadelphia! in celebration of its historic 85th Anniversary. On Saturday, March 28, 2020, AVA will present BrAVA Philadelphia!, a spectacular concert of opera stars at 'The Met Philadelphia', the beautifully restored opera house on North Broad Street.

On Wednesday, December 4, at 8:00 pm, let yourself be enchanted by the mesmerizing artistry of world-renowned tenor Michael Fabiano and participate in the launch of a new initiative at Merkin Hall. Classical Vocal Arts (CVA) International inaugurates its series with 'A Passion for Song,' a Benefit Program that includes works by Duparc, Liszt, Barber, Tchaikovsky, and selections from the American Songbook. Michael will be joined by members of the ArtSmart program and will be accompanied by pianist Kamal Khan.

The Academy of Vocal Arts' annual favorite vocal competition returns to the Kimmel Center this fall.

This week's opera performances--Teatro Nuova's LA STRANIERA by Bellini and Mostly Mozart's MAGIC FLUTE--proved that opera can be considered alive and well (and living in New York), as long as those producing it believe in it and give us some voices worth hearing.

In its 9th summer season, Russian Opera Workshop presents Tchaikovsky's Iolanta (June 25, 26 & 27), and The Maid of Orleans (July 30, 31 and August 1). Other events include a series of master classes and concerts of Russian Romances.