Deborah Nansteel News

Washington National Opera opens its 2018-2019 season with a stunning new production by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello of Verdi's La traviata, October 6-21, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets start at $45. From the famous brindisi drinking song to the heartbreaking 'Addio del passato' aria, the original 'Pretty Woman' proves it's better to have loved once than not at all. Verdi's romantic masterpiece and familiar tunes are as timeless as the storyline is contemporary, pitting tensions of social class against Violetta's personal sacrifice.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson today announced Refugee Voices, two special events to complement the company's new production of The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson today announced Refugee Voices, two special events to complement the company's new production of The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson today announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced that the company's 2018 Summer Festival will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theatre in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26 through July 15 at venues throughout the region.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson today announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region.

Michigan Opera Theatre CEO and President Wayne S. Brown and Principal Conductor Stephen Lord today announced the company's 2018-19 opera season.  MOT's 48th opera season will be the second under Lord's artistic leadership and celebrates masterworks of literature turned opera, with "Eugene Onegin" (Pyotr Tchaikovsky), "Candide" (Leonard Bernstein) and "The Grapes of Wrath" (Ricky Ian Gordon/Michael Korie). The season also includes a staple of the opera repertoire, "The Barber of Seville" (Gioachino Rossini) and a fairytale opera, "Hansel and Gretel" (Engelbert Humperdinck). The season begins Sept. 29 with a gala concert featuring opera superstar Renee Fleming.  

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Lucia di Lammermoor is now open at The Metropolitan Opera! Get a first look at the cast in action below!

The role of the fragile title heroine who teeters between love and madness is shared by sopranos Olga Peretyatko-Mariotti and Pretty Yende, who have each impressed audiences with dazzling bel canto portrayals at the Met. Vittorio Grigolo and Michael Fabiano share the role of her lover in this chilling production by Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman. Roberto Abbado conducts.

Washington National Opera (WNO), led by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, announces its 2018-2019 season, one that continues its focus on bold productions of classic operas, fascinating contemporary perspectives, and the best in American artistry. The season includes a new WNO production of Verdi's classic romantic drama La traviata, the company premiere of Kevin Puts's and Mark Campbell's Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, Tchaikovsky's epic Eugene Onegin, Gounod's devilishly entertaining Faust, and Puccini's towering masterpiece Tosca. The season also features a weekend of four world premieres during the American Opera Initiative Festival; a revival of WNO's hit world-premiere holiday family opera The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; a special Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance of La traviata; and other exciting vocal events, including the annual Mars, lnc.'s Opera in the Outfield.

DIE WALK RE runs through November 30 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the critics are weighing in!

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced that the company's 2018 Summer Festival will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theatre in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26 through July 15 at venues throughout the region.

San Francisco Opera announces Opera for All Voices: Stories of Our Time, a new commissioning initiative committed to telling wide-ranging stories that resonate with all audiences, regardless of age or prior experience with opera.

Arizona Opera kicks off 2017 with Puccini's masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, in Tucson on January 28 at 7:30 pm and January 29 at 2:00 pm in Tucson Music Hall at 260 S. Church and in Phoenix on February 3 & 4 at 7:30 pm and February 5 at 2:00 pm in Symphony Hall, 75 N. 2nd St., Phoenix.

Arizona Opera kicks off 2017 with Puccini's masterpiece, Madama Butterfly, in Tucson on January 28 at 7:30 pm and January 29 at 2:00 pm in Tucson Music Hall at 260 S. Church and in Phoenix on February 3 & 4 at 7:30 pm and February 5 at 2:00 pm in Symphony Hall, 75 N. 2nd St., Phoenix.

Despite it's bombastic and highly visible ensemble of cheery papas, THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT is a showcase for its two stars, Oropesa and Brownlee.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2016–2017 season with a new production of Gaetano Donizetti's mashup of slapstick comedy and charming romance—The Daughter of the Regiment, November 12–20, 2016, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The cast is led by superstar tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the hero Tonio and fast-rising soprano Lisette Oropesa, who starred as Susanna earlier this season in WNO's The Marriage of Figaro, as Marie. While the opera is best known for the vocal acrobatics required of its singers, the high-comedy antics of the non-singing role of The Duchess of Krakenthorp often steal the show. On opening night, November 12, 2016, the role of The Duchess will be performed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her official Washington National Opera stage debut. The brand-new WNO production is directed by acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Robert Longbottom, and the WNO Orchestra is led by rising conductor Christopher Allen, both in their WNO debuts.

Under the direction of Bartlett Sher (whose work is currently represented on Broadway with Lincoln Center Theater's revival of The King and I, Charles Gounod's 1867 French opera ROMEO AND JULIET comes to opulent, dramatic life--with the quality and grandiosity that characterize Lyric Opera's productions. This production of Gounod's opera--with libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre and which was first performed at the Lyric in 1981--retains the original Renaissance setting of Shakespeare's classic play and renders it larger-than-life. The inherently dramatic nature of the play makes it a fitting choice for an operatic adaptation--Romeo and Juliet's tragic love story becomes even more heightened when set to Gounod's decadent score.