New York City Opera, under the direction of General Director Michael Capasso, has announced it will return to Bryant Park's highly popular free summer performing arts series with three concert performances: Puccini's La Boheme on Monday, May 20; a special Pride in the Park concert on Wednesday, June 12; and Bizet's Carmen on Monday, August 26.
Pride in the Park will feature a diverse program of selections from opera and musical theater sung by stars of City Opera's Pride Series, including a sneak peak of their upcoming world premiere, Stonewall, playing June 21-28 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the event, Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's Stonewall is a moving and explosive new American opera that captures the rage, grit, humor and, finally, hope of the LGBTQ community's uprising in a Greenwich Village dance club on one hot night in June 1969.
The Metropolitan Opera has named soprano Lisette Oropesa as the winner of the 14th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award. The $50,000 award is given to extraordinarily gifted singers with rising Met careers. Given in honor of the legendary American soprano Beverly Sills, the award was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met's Board of Directors.
Be transported to the Latin Quarter of 19th century Paris without leaving Bryant Park as you bask in the lush melodies of Puccini's La Bohème. Hear the stars of New York City Opera sing some of the most famous melodies in opera, all from the comfort of your very own blanket!
Isabel Leonard is one of, if not the, most in-demand opera singer in the world today. For the last decade her star has been on the rise all around the world both on the opera and concert stages. This season at The Met alone she's performing in three different production, singing three roles that could not be more starkly dissimilar: the title role of Nico Muhly's Marnie, Claude Debussy's Melisande and the upcoming Blanche de la Force in Poulenc's 'Dialogues of the Carmelites'. Given the rigor of her schedule, we are thrilled that she found a few minutes to chat with us about her upcoming performances in Dialogues... as well as answering some burning questions that the entire opera world is dying to find out. For example:
Proving the enduring vibrancy and relevancy of the art form (while celebrating a milestone for its leader), Boston Lyric Opera's 2019/20 Season of new productions spans three centuries of composers -- focusing on works that reflect the highs and lows of power and politics, bringing passionate opera installations to new neighborhoods, and introducing audiences to rising stars from diverse backgrounds. Among the season highlights, Russian-born soprano Elena Stikhina returns to BLO, where she made her 2017 American debut, to sing the lead role in NORMA. Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Esther Nelson marks her 10th programming season, which the company will commemorate throughout the year.
Composer Joan Tower, one of America's most significant living composers, will receive the League of American Orchestras' highest honor, the Gold Baton, at the League's 74th National Conference in Nashville, June 3-5, 2019.
Falstaff, Verdi's exuberant final opera, returns to the Met for performances February 22-March 16, 2019. Robert Carsen's acclaimed production moves the action from Shakespeare's era to 1950s England. Fresh off his much-lauded performance as Michonnet in the Met's Adriana Lecouvreur, Ambrogio Maestri stars as the notorious glutton Falstaff, reprising his celebrated betrayal in this production's premiere run in the 2013-14 season. The ensemble cast of merry wives and noblemen also includes Ailyn Perez as Alice Ford, Golda Schultz as Nannetta, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, Francesco Demuro as Fenton, and Juan Jesus Rodriguez as Ford. Conductor Richard Farnes, the former longtime music director of Opera North, makes his Met debut on the podium.
Michael Mayer's 2013 production of Verdi's Rigoletto, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, returns to the Met on February 12, with conductor Nicola Luisotti leading an all-star cast. Initial performances star Nadine Sierra as Gilda, Vittorio Grigolo as the Duke, Roberto Frontali as Rigoletto, Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile, and Ramona Zaharia in her Met debut as Maddalena. In later performances, Rosa Feola makes her Met debut as Gilda, Bryan Hymel sings the Duke for the first time at the Met, George Gagnidze returns as Rigoletto, and Dimitry Ivashchenko reprises his portrayal of Sparafucile.
San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced repertory and casting for the Company's 97th Season, opening Friday, September 6, 2019, with a gala performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet (Rom o et Juliette) starring tenor Bryan Hymel and soprano Nadine Sierra in Op ra de Monte-Carlo Director Jean-Louis Grinda's production. In keeping with the Company's time-honored tradition, the new season will be inaugurated with San Francisco Opera Guild's elegant, signature benefit and celebration, Opera Ball 2019.
The Metropolitan Opera presents Mozart's timeless drama Don Giovanni, with 12 performances January 30, 2019, to April 18, 2019. All performances of Michael Grandage's production are conducted by Cornelius Meister in his Met debut.
This winter, The Atlanta Opera presents the company premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Dead Man Walking in an original production "of the very highest level" (Opera News) from General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun. Georgia native Jamie Barton - winner of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition - makes her eagerly anticipated role debut as Sister Helen Prejean, and Michael Mayes reprises the iconic portrayal of condemned murderer Joseph De Rocher that the composer himself has called "definitive," anchoring an all-star cast that also features Maria Zifchak, Wayne Tigges, Kevin Burdette, and Jay Hunter Morris. Marking the second presentation in Atlanta's mainstage season, the opera will be mounted in four performances led by Kentucky Opera principal conductor Joseph Mechavich at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (Feb 2-10).
City Center alumni Jake Gyllenhaal, Norm Lewis, Victoria Clark, Vanessa Williams and more are helping the historic institution to celebrate 75 years at the center of the arts. Check out a history of City Center below!
Washington state is justifiably proud to call Angela Meade a native. The star soprano has been a prizewinner in more than 50 top competitions
I caught up with rising star bass-baritone Christian Van Horn the other day, to find out what the devil was going on with his starring role in the Met's first performance of Arrigo Boito's MEFISTOFELE in almost 20 years. Were you nervous as hell (pun intended) on the first night, I asked Van Horn, winner of this year's prestigious Richard Tucker Award, in your role as the Devil?
The Metropolitan Opera's new production of La Traviata, opening December 4, will be the first opera conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin as the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director. Soprano Diana Damrau, who made her acclaimed role debut as Violetta at the Met during the 2012–2013 season (with Maestro Nézet-Séguin on the podium), returns as the tragic heroine.
A deal with the devil is struck with powerful results in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele, with performances November 8 to December 1, 2018. Starring in the diabolical title role is 2018 Richard Tucker Award winner Christian Van Horn, who joins recent Tucker Award winners Angela Meade as the love interest Margherita and Michael Fabiano as the bargain-making Faust. Rounding out the cast is Jennifer Check as Helen of Troy. Not seen on the Met stage in nearly 20 years, Robert Carsen's production is conducted by Carlo Rizzi and Joseph Colaneri.
On Friday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m., the Carnegie Hall Notables-a membership and ticket program for music enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s-presents Jamie Barton in an exclusive concert in Zankel Hall for Notables members only. The concert features the award-winning mezzo-soprano alongside pianist Kathleen Kelly performing Lee Hoiby's Bon Appetit!-a 20-minute operatic scene for mezzo-soprano and piano based on an actual Julia Child cooking show-with additional selections to be announced from the stage.
The Metropolitan Opera presents one of the most beloved operas in the repertory, Georges Bizet's Carmen, with performances October 30 to November 15 and again from January 9 to February 8. Starring in all performances in the title role is Clémentine Margaine, who made her celebrated Met debut in this role in 2017. Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna share the role of Carmen's lover, Don José. Guanqun Yu, Aleksandra Kurzak, and Susanna Phillips sing the role of Micaëla, and Kyle Ketelsen, Alexander Vinogradov, and Michael Todd Simpson portray the toreador Escamillo. Conductor Omer Meir Wellber makes his Met debut leading the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in interpreting Bizet's famous score; winter performances are conducted by Louis Langrée.
The Metropolitan Opera presents one of the most beloved operas in the repertory, Georges Bizet's Carmen, with performances October 30 to November 15 and again from January 9 to February 8. Starring in all performances in the title role is Clémentine Margaine, who made her celebrated Met debut in this role in 2017. Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna share the role of Carmen's lover, Don José. Guanqun Yu, Aleksandra Kurzak, and Susanna Phillips sing the role of Micaëla, and Kyle Ketelsen, Alexander Vinogradov, and Michael Todd Simpson portray the toreador Escamillo. Conductor Omer Meir Wellber makes his Met debut leading the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in interpreting Bizet's famous score; winter performances are conducted by Louis Langrée.
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