It's just about time to wish you all a happy 2018--but I'm not quite ready to put 2017 to rest. Though it won't go into the annals as one of the best years ever, there were quite enough performances and performers that made this year a winner for me, operatically speaking at least, in my corner of the world.
The 17th Annual Helpmann Awards will be announced at a ceremony on starting at 7pm EST Monday 24th July at the Capitol Theatre Sydney.
Just after hearing the wonderfully well sung, semi-staged DAS RHEINGOLD at the NY Philharmonic, under departing Music Director Alan Gilbert, I saw the current Broadway revival of THE LITTLE FOXES. It seemed Richard Wagner's gods and Lillian Hellman's Hubbards had lots in common: The small-minded, self-serving gods of this production, at least, could have been friends and neighbors of the mendacious, corrupt Southerners in Hellman's play (or even of a would-be-royal family in Washington, DC).
Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic (photo: Chris Lee) In 2009, the year Alan Gilbert took over as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, Alex Ross wrote in the New Yorker: “Simply put, the orchestra is playing better than it has in the seventeen years that I've been a critic in New York.” The intervening years have seen Gilbert go from strength to strength, with critics and audiences alike responding with generous enthusiasm to the superb quality of the performances and to the new initiatives that transformed the orchestra into “a force of permanent revolution” (New York magazine).
In the third of Alan Gilbert's final four subscription weeks as New York Philharmonic Music Director, he will lead an enhanced concert production of Wagner's Das Rheingold. Soloists include bass-baritone Eric Owens as Wotan, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Fricka (in her New York Philharmonic debut), baritone Christopher Purves as Alberich (debut), tenor Russell Thomas as Loge, mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor as Erda, bass Morris Robinson as Fasolt (debut), bass Stephen Milling as Fafner (debut), soprano Rachel Willis-Sorensen as Freia (debut), tenor Brian Jagde as Froh (debut), bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Donner (debut), tenor Peter Bronder as Mime (debut), soprano Jennifer Zetlan as Woglinde, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Wellgunde, and mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford as Flosshilde. The enhanced concert production will be directed by Louisa Muller with costume design - featuring character-based treatment of modern concert attire - by David C. Woolard. The performances will take place Thursday, June 1, 2017, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Houston Grand Opera presents Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods), the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, featuring a new generation of leading Wagnerians including Simon O'Neill as Siegfried and Christine Goerke as Brunnhilde, starting April 22.
A sensational retelling of the story of Saul and David, the first two kings of the Israelites.
In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Nixon in China made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.
The New York Philharmonic's box office opens today, August 9, 2016, for the 2016-17 season.
?The Adelaide Festival announces the return of the brilliant and provocative Barrie Kosky in March 2017 with his newest masterpiece, George Frideric Handel's Saul. Produced by the great Glyndebourne Opera Festival, it will form the centrepiece of the 2017 Adelaide Festival.
21C MEDIA GROUP just released its season preview of opera, vocal and choral music for 2016-17. Scroll down for details!
The English National Opera has announced its 2016/17 season, showcasing an extraordinary range of work -- from the return of beloved classics to exciting new productions and a world premiere.
Toronto – When the Canadian Opera Company's Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre returns for its 2015/2016 season this fall, over 400 artists from diverse artistic backgrounds will share their talents in one of Toronto's most vibrant and intimate cultural hubs. The season begins on Tuesday, September 22 with a highly anticipated performance by the rising stars of the COC Ensemble Studio singing their favourite arias and art songs.
2015 HELPMANN AWARDS ***THIS ARTICLE WILL BE UPDATED LIVE ON MONDAY 27TH JULY 2015***
Jane Moss, Lincoln Center's Ehrenkranz Artistic Director, today announced details of the 49th season of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, New York's annual summer celebration of the genius of Mozart and his enduring impact, with vibrant performances running from today, July 25-August 22, 2015.
The third week of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, August 11 through 16, features 11 events comprising orchestral performances, late-night recitals, contemporary music, a lecture, and the U.S. stage premiere ofWritten on Skin, a highly-acclaimed opera by George Benjamin, this summer's Composer-in-Residence and the centerpiece of the Festival's focus on his music.
Tonight, the countdown to the 2015 HELPMANN AWARDS began with the announcement of the 2015 HELPMANN AWARDS Nominees.
Alan Gilbert -- recently recognized with a Foreign Policy Association Medal for his extraordinary commitment to cultural diplomacy -- completes his sixth season at the helm of the New York Philharmonic with this week's U.S. premiere of director Côme de Bellescize's staging of Joan of Arc at the Stake, which stars Academy Award-winner Marion Cotillard (June 10–13). Next, he and the orchestra toast the summer with a trio of free concerts under the stars to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Philharmonic's historic Concerts in the Parks (June 17–24), using the same program as the centerpiece of their upcoming residencies at Colorado's Bravo! Vail (July 24–31), Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West (Aug 1–8), and in Shanghai, China (July 4–10). Gilbert also makes his Mostly Mozart debut, leading the American stage premiere of George Benjamin's Written on Skin (Aug 11–15), and crowns an artistic residency at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival with an account of Messiaen's epic and otherworldly Des canyons aux étoiles (Aug 23).
Jane Moss, Lincoln Center's Ehrenkranz Artistic Director, today announced details of the 49th season of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, New York's annual summer celebration of the genius of Mozart and his enduring impact, with vibrant performances running from July 25-August 22, 2015.
The Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) and Artistic Director Harry Christophers are pleased to announce its 2015-2016 Season-H+H's 201st-featuring the Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus performing works from the Baroque and Classical eras.
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