Washington National Opera presents German soprano Diana Damrau in recital as part of its Celebrity Concert Series tonight, April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Accompanied by harpist Xavier de Maistre, Damrau will perform selections from Schubert, R. Strauss, Hahn, Chausson, Duparc, and more. Both artists make their WNO debuts with this performance.
Besides singing her dream role of Violetta for the first time anywhere, soprano Diana Damrau was also RIGOLETTO's Gilda in the Met's new 'Ratpack' production that was seen by millions worldwide as an HD broadcast in February. And, oh yes, there was the arrival of her second son, Colyn, whose impending birth late in 2012 had sent the opera world into a tizzy, when Mama Damrau began cancelling performances.
Washington National Opera presents German soprano Diana Damrau in recital as part of its Celebrity Concert Series on Monday, April 8 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Accompanied by harpist Xavier de Maistre, Damrau will perform selections from Schubert, R. Strauss, Hahn, Chausson, Duparc, and more.
Diana Damrau will make her role debut as the courtesan Violetta in La Traviata, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin in his first Met performances of the Verdi tragedy. Saimir Pirgu sings Violetta's lover Alfredo, and Placido Domingo sings the role of Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont, in this revival of Willy Decker's 2010 production. This season's performances will be Damrau's first time singing the role of Violetta anywhere, while Domingo will move from the tenor role of Alfredo, which he has sung at the Met numerous times since 1970, to the baritone role of Giorgio.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
In a bold new production, Tony Award winning director Michael Mayer has set Verdi's towering tragedy in the bright lights and seedy underbelly of 1960's Las Vegas.
Rigoletto, one of Verdi's most famous and popular operas, will be broadcast live on the Peterborough Players big screen today, February 16, 2013, at 1:00 pm, as part of the Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD 2012-13 season. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students.
If God is in the details, Christine Jones must certainly be praying at the right church.
As the scenic designer for the Metropolitan Opera's new RIGOLETTO, Jones has taken the concept that director Michael Mayer sold to the Met--the '60s Las Vegas of Sinatra's Rat Pack vs. the 16th century Mantua of the original--and flown it to the moon. The result is a smart production that is fun to watch and works visually even when certain directorial details--Rigoletto doesn't live up to his billing as a 'Don Rickles-type'--seem tenuous.
The Met: Live in HD Series continues on Saturday, Feb 17 at the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre with The Met's new production of Verdi's Rigoletto.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer will make his Met debut with a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, in a staging that moves the opera's tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960. Check out the video below of Director, Michael Mayer, talking about the production.
Como ya es tradicion, la Metropolitan Opera House de Nueva York esta llevando a cabo las transmisiones Live in HD en el Auditorio Nacional. Y en esta ocasion la produccion que se presentara el proximo sabado 16 de febrero de 2013 sera Rigoletto de Giuseppe Verdi, con una atrevida propuesta del director Michael Mayer.
Rigoletto, one of Verdi's most famous and popular operas, will be broadcast live on the Peterborough Players big screen on Saturday, February 16, 2013, at 1:00 pm, as part of the Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD 2012-13 season. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students.
In a bold new production, Tony Award winning director Michael Mayer has set Verdi's towering tragedy in the bright lights and seedy underbelly of 1960's Las Vegas.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer will make his Met debut with a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, in a staging that moves the opera's tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960. Mayer stopped by PBS' THIRTEEN to talk about the new production. Watch the interview below!
Full disclosure: I'm not fond of updating operas. Most of them simply don't work, because the directors appear to have a disdain for the art form or, at least, for the particular opera they're staging. They assume that trashing 'Un Ballo in Maschera,' 'Don Giovanni' or 'La Sonnambula' is the only way to get anyone under 50 into an opera house. On the other hand, Michael Mayer, the Broadway director best known for his work on the musical 'Spring Awakening,' seems to actually like opera and is making his splendid Metropolitan Opera debut with the bold and brassy new production of Verdi's RIGOLETTO, which opened on January 28.
Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer will make his Met debut with a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, in a staging that moves the opera's tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960.
Today, January 28, the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met will open George Condo'sJesters, presented in conjunction with the new Metropolitan Opera production of Rigoletto. Condo has created 9 original ink-on-paper drawings of jesters for the show, which will be on display through May 11. The Met's new production of Rigoletto, Verdi's opera about a court jester whose life unravels after his insults go too far, will premiere today, January 28.
On Monday, January 28, the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met will open George Condo'sJesters, presented in conjunction with the new Metropolitan Opera production of Rigoletto. Condo has created 9 original ink-on-paper drawings of jesters for the show, which will be on display through May 11. The Met's new production of Rigoletto, Verdi's opera about a court jester whose life unravels after his insults go too far, will premiere January 28.