Bo Skovhus News

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

On Monday, March 11, at 8:00 p.m., the versatile and commanding mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, joined by frequent collaborator, pianist Warren Jones, makes her Carnegie Hall recital debut in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with a deeply personal program of American song. Ms. Blythe's program features Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, a set of songs written for her by the late composer James Legg, and Samuel Barber's Three Songs, Op. 10, powerful settings of three poems by James Joyce. Also featured are songs by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Ray Henderson, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin.

Single tickets go on sale to the general public today, Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 58th season. The internationally renowned company will present grand opera with exceptional casts and productions in its beautiful home, the historic Civic Opera House. Lyric will offer 68 performances of 9 operas in the 25-week season, including 6 new-to-Chicago productions, Saturday, October 6, 2012, through Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Single tickets go on sale to the general public Wed., Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 58th season. The internationally renowned company will present grand opera with exceptional casts and productions in its beautiful home, the historic Civic Opera House. Lyric will offer 68 performances of 9 operas in the 25-week season, including 6 new-to-Chicago productions, Saturday, October 6, 2012, through Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Staatsoperndirektor Dominique Meyer, Generalmusikdirektor Franz Welser-Möst, Ballettdirektor Manuel Legris und der Kaufmännische Geschäftsführer Thomas W. Platzer haben heute, Dienstag, 27. März 2012 den Spielplan der kommenden Saison 2012/2013 präsentiert.

Anlässlich des 20. Todestages von KS Eberhard Waechter am 29. März erinnern eine Ausstellung, eine Matinee, eine Buchpublikation sowie eine Filmvorführung an den ehemaligen Direktor der Wiener Staatsoper.

Der junge tschechische Bass-Bariton Adam Plachetka * seit 2010/2011 Ensemblemitglied der Wiener Staatsoper

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann will sing his first-ever New York recital at the Metropolitan Opera on Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m.

The LA Opera's 2010-2011 season has been announced, and will begin on September 23 with the world premiere of Daniel Catán's IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN). IL POSTINO will play through October 16 and star Placido Domingo. Ron Daniels will direct with scene and costume design by Riccardo Hernandez (Tony Award winner) and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton (two-time Tony Award winner).

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Board Chair Ben Johnson announced today that the contract for Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles will be extended for one year, through the 2011-12 season. Following the end of his contract, Mr. Runnicles will continue to appear as a guest conductor with the Orchestra for two weeks annually - he currently appears four weeks each season.

Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle de Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year.

Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle de Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year.

The Metropolitan Opera has reason to celebrate; $2.5 million worth of tickets were sold on Sunday, the first day of sales, through its box office, telephone call center and Web site, up from $2 million on the first day of sales last year, according to the Associated press.

Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Jan?ček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).

Bill Irwin will make his Metropolitan Opera debut in a speaking role in Die Fledermaus from December 19th through January 7th