Patrick Summers continues his first season at the helm of the Houston Grand Opera this spring, leading performances of Verdi's Don Carlos (April 13-28) and Donizetti's Mary Stuart (April 21-May 4). Summers - named HGO's Artistic and Music Director in May 2011, following a 13-year period as Music Director - began his Houston season withVerdi's La traviata. Last fall, the conductor continued his long association with San Francisco Opera as principal guest conductor, leading the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis' Heart of a Soldier and, soon after, the company premiere of Handel's Xerxes. He returns to the West Coast this spring, making his Los Angeles Opera debut by conducting Puccini's La boheme (May 12-June 2).
Soprano Angela Meade, the 2011 Richard Tucker Award winner, returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Elvira in Verdi's Ernani, February 2-25, singing the role with which she made an unscheduled "star is born" professional debut at the Met in 2008 substituting for an ill colleague.
This weekend, medici.tv offers violinist Renaud Capucon performs Henri Dutilleux's gorgeous L'Arbre des songes (The Tree of Dreams), with conductor Tugan Sokhiev and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. The Toulouse program also presents Tchaikovsky's great "Pathetique" Symphony. On February 25 at 2:15 pm, medici.tv will present the opera Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, starring soprano Renee Fleming and conducted by Christian Thielemann, in a production from Baden-Baden, Germany.
An abundance of Verdi and Wagner, in celebration of their 200th birthdays, will be featured in the Metropolitan Opera's 2012-13 season, which will showcase the world's greatest singers, conductors, and directors in seven new productions-two of them Met premieres-and 21 revivals, including three complete Ring cycles. Twelve of the season's Saturday matinees will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's increasingly popular, award-winning Live in HD series.
The Metropolitan Opera (The Met) has just announced that Marco Armiliato will conduct Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia on February 15 and 18 matinee, replacing Maurizio Benini, who has withdrawn for personal reasons. Armiliato, who is currently conducting Verdi's Aida and Ernani, will now be conducting six out of seven Met performances this week. This is the highest number of performances for a conductor in a single week in Met history.
Screenvision, a leading innovator in cinema advertising and alternative content programming, is partnering with Ace Arts, a curator and provider of high quality performing arts content for presentation in cinema, to bring three of the opera's most acclaimed new stars into movie theaters in early 2012. The attraction, entitled '3 Superstars in Berlin,' will be available in more than 300 movie theaters across the U.S. on January 26 and February 1, 2012.
On Saturday, January 28 The Met: Live in HD series will continue with an encore performance of Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre at 1pm.
Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced yesterday the repertoire, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for Lyric's 2012-13 season. This was Freud's first news conference since becoming Lyric's general director on Oct. 1, 2011. Joining Freud for yesterday's announcement was Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric's music director, and Renee Fleming, Lyric's creative consultant (via Skype).
Stephen Costello returns to the fabled London venue for his company role debut as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata. His five appearances (Jan 2-20) come in a revival of Richard Eyre's celebrated staging, with Maurizio Benini on the podium. For the first three performances, Costello's Violetta is Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho; for the final pair, he is rejoined by Anna Netrebko, with whom he recently made waves in the Metropolitan Opera's premiere production of Anna Bolena.
Following a highly successful run of performances in the Metropolitan Opera's season-opening production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Stephen Costello returns to the Vienna State Opera for a second consecutive season, singing the role of Nemorino in another (and far more light-hearted) Donizetti opera, L'elisir d'amore.
Stephen Costello returns to the fabled London venue for his company role debut as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata. His five appearances (Jan 2-20) come in a revival of Richard Eyre's celebrated staging, with Maurizio Benini on the podium. For the first three performances, Costello's Violetta is Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho; for the final pair, he is rejoined by Anna Netrebko, with whom he recently made waves in the Metropolitan Opera's premiere production of Anna Bolena.
Screenvision, a leading innovator in cinema advertising and alternative content programming, is partnering with Ace Arts, a curator and provider of high quality performing arts content for presentation in cinema, to bring three of the opera's most acclaimed new stars into movie theaters in early 2012. The attraction, entitled '3 Superstars in Berlin,' will be available in more than 300 movie theaters across the U.S. on January 26 and February 1, 2012.
Following her star turn in the season-opening production of Anna Bolena at the Metropolitan Opera, Anna Netrebko - the "diva assoluta del mondo" (Opera News) - returns to Europe to reprise one of her most celebrated roles: Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
Musical America, now in its third century as the indispensable resource for the performing arts, today announced the winners of the annual Musical America Awards, recognizing artistic excellence and achievement in the arts.
This December, more of the world's top opera performances will be presented on medici.tv than ever before, enhancing the site's must-see schedule of live events and vintage programming.
The legendary Grotta Azzurra Ristorante, located on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets in one of lower Manhattan's historic neighborhoods - Little Italy -- is transforming its famous lower-level 'grotto' into an intimate live music room on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM starting in mid-December. The policy will be a $20 cover charge plus a two drink minimum. Dinner at this fabled Italian restaurant will be available upstairs in the main dining room at 6 PM. A limited snacks menu will be available in the 'grotto" during the performances. The capacity of the 'grotto" is 50 people.
