Christopher Maltman News

Internationally renowned as a venue for world-class open-air concerts surrounded by a striking backdrop of nature and architecture, Grafenegg is also devoted to an extensive program of activities that champion young talent. In 2018, a new brand - Campus Grafenegg - will be launched to expand and further develop these efforts. Leon Botstein, conductor, scholar, President of Bard College, and Music Director of American Symphony Orchestra and The Orchestra Now, will begin his first season as Artistic Director of Grafenegg Campus and Grafenegg Academy in 2018. The appointment honors him as one of only a few Americans to head a major European classical institution.

Though the title role in Mozart's DON GIOVANNI goes to the fabled lady killer--and Mostly Mozart's production was lucky to have a first-rate Don in baritone Christopher Maltman--the opera is a real ensemble piece, with every one of a half dozen characters key to a successful performance. In the Budapest Festival Orchestra's lively performance at Mostly Mozart under conductor and director Ivan Fischer, there was an extra element: an ensemble that tripled as chorus, dancers and, yes, scenery.

Tickets go on sale today for the Met's Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning Live in HD series' 2017-18 season, which begins on October 7 with the company's new production of Bellini's Norma.

Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival concludes its 51st season with a revival of the acclaimed Budapest Festival Orchestra production of Don Giovanni, directed and conducted by Ivan Fischer, with a cast led by baritone Christopher Maltman; Renee and Robert Belfer Music Director Louis Langree leading two Festival Orchestra programs featuring pianist Kirill Gerstein in his Mostly Mozart debut and violinist Gil Shaham; a special appearance by Langree on piano in a pre-concert recital with Susanna Phillips; and Mostly Mozart artists-in-residence International Contemporary Ensemble performing a nature-inspired program by three pioneering female composers and featuring Wu Wei in his festival debut.

Classic and contemporary, opera and orchestral, the music doesn't stop when the temperatures climb in New York, whether you're in New York City, or ready to travel to one of the festivals that dot the landscape of the Northeast. Musical life doesn't stop when the Met closes its doors: Here's a look “from here to eternity”…in the first part of our series on summertime's opera/vocal venues, covering New York City and Westchester.

???????Edinburgh International Festival today unveiled its 2017 programme which marks the event's 70th anniversary. This year's International Festival runs from Friday 4 to Monday 28 August, welcoming 2,020 artists from 40 nations to perform in Scotland's capital city.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

The 2017 Grammy Awards were announced this past Sunday in Los Angeles.  The complete list of winners and nominees of classical music is below! 

The Ghosts of Versailles features Patricia Racette in the leading role of Marie Antoinette and Broadway legend Patti LuPone as the Turkish entertainer Samira.

LA Opera Music Director James Conlon's world premiere recording of composer John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman's The Ghosts of Versailles, released on the PentaTone label, today won two 2017 Grammy® Awards for Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

A diverse all-star lineup of GRAMMY Award nominees, GRAMMY winners, entertainers and film and TV stars took stage last ight for THE 59TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

LA Opera Music Director James Conlon's world premiere recording of composer John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman's The Ghosts of Versailles, released on the PentaTone label, today won two 2017 Grammy® Awards for Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

ontinuing a tradition inaugurated in 2006, the Met offers a holiday presentation sung in English for families this December and January. This year's production, Mozart's The Magic Flute, opens December 20 and includes reduced ticket prices.

ontinuing a tradition inaugurated in 2006, the Met offers a holiday presentation sung in English for families this December and January. This year's production, Mozart's The Magic Flute, opens December 20 and includes reduced ticket prices.

 The Florentine Opera's original recording of Wuthering Heights makes Opera News' 10 Best in Opera recordings of the Year in 2016. Read more at OperaNews.com.

San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, and Wu Man were nominated for Best Orchestral Performance today.

This morning, The Recording Academy and 2016 GRAMMY Best New Artist, Meghan Trainor, kicked off this year's GRAMMY Awards nominations by revealing nominees in the four General Field categories (Best New Artist, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year) live on 'CBS This Morning.

Anna Netrebko will add a new role to her wide-ranging Met repertory tonight through December 3 when she sings her first company performances of the seductive, tragic heroine of Puccini's Manon Lescaut.Marcelo Álvarez makes his role debut as Manon's obsessed lover des Grieux, with Christopher Maltman stars as Manon's brother Lescaut and Brindley Sherratt as Geronte, Manon's older lover. The November 21, December 7, and December 10 performances will star Kristine Opolais as Manon, reprising a role she first sang with the company in last season's premiere of Sir Richard Eyre's staging. Marco Armiliato will conduct all performances of Manon Lescaut at the Met this season.

The Metropolitan Opera has just announced a cast change advisory. Janai Brugger will sing the role of Pamina in the December 20, 23, 26, 30 matinee, January 2 and 5 performances of Mozart's The Magic Flute, replacing Layla Claire, who has withdrawn due to pregnancy.

The opening program for this year's Mostly Mozart Festival—the 50th--at David Geffen Hall may not have offered any new insights into the mind of the genius composer or uncovered any long-lost masterpiece not heard in 200 years. On the other hand, it was filled with wonderful music, inspired singing and total bliss for the audience, in a program that flew by, all in the name of Mozart.