Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will offer New Yorkers a preview performance of excerpts from a new opera based on the classic story and Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life on Sunday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Guggenheim Museum, as part of the museum's Works & Process program. The evening will include a discussion with the composer/librettist team of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, moderated by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers.
Houston Grand Opera will present four pinnacles of the operatic repertoire during the company's 2016-17 season, which also features the highly anticipated world premiere of It's a Wonderful Life by composer Jake Heggie with libretto by Gene Scheer, and much-loved comedies by Donizetti and Mozart. Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers will lead Gotterdammerung, the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, featuring a new generation of leading Wagnerians includingSimon O'Neill as Siegfried and Christine Goerke as Brunnhilde. HGO will bring back its popular production of Gounod's Faust, with the HGO debut of international star tenor Michael Fabiano in the title role partnered by Houston favorite Ana Maria Martinez as Marguerite, along with the role debut of prominent bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni as Mephistopheles. The company will celebrate the 30thanniversary of HGO's world premiere of John Adams's pivotal Nixon in China by presenting James Robinson's production, of which HGO is a co-producer, with HGO Studio alumnus Scott Hendricks as Richard Nixon and soprano Andriana Chuchman as his wife, Pat. Patrick Summers will conduct Verdi'sthrilling Requiem, which critics at the time termed "an opera in ecclesiastical robes," with soloists Angela Meade, soprano, in her HGO debut; Sasha Cooke, alto; Alexey Dolgov, tenor; and Peixin Chen, bass; and the HGO Orchestra and Chorus. HGO's 62nd season will open with a whimsical production of Donizetti's buoyant The Elixir of Love, featuring tenor Dimitri Pittas as Nemorino and HGO Studio alumna Nicole Heaston as Adina and led by the eminent English conductor Jane Glover, HGO's 2016-17 Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, in her first HGO appearance. Mozart's zany yet deeply emotive comedy TheAbduction from the Seraglio-featuring Russian coloratura soprano and HGO Studio alumna Albina Shagimuratova as Konstanze and leading American tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Belmonte in HGO's inventive 2002 co-production-will close the main-stage season.
To conclude the 20th season of its recital series, the George London Foundation for Singers presents a performance by two acclaimed young artists: mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, who won a George London Award in 2014, and tenor Dimitri Pittas, a 2004 George London Award winner, on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at 4:00 pm, at The Morgan Library & Museum. Accompanying them at the piano will be each singer's respective spouse: Christopher Cano and Leah Edwards.
The winners of the 45th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced at the conclusion of the competition's final round this evening, which took place in a front of an audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.
Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, OTELLO, airs on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met today, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.) (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Get a sneak peek below!
Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, OTELLO, airs on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances at the Met Sunday, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.) (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Get a sneak peek below!
Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello, airs on THIRTEEN'SGreat Performances at the Met Sunday, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS.
Andrey Nemzer will sing the role of Orlofsky in this evening's performance of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, replacing Susan Graham, who is ill.
Mireille Asselin will sing the role of Adele in this evening's season premiere performance of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, replacing Lucy Crowe, who is ill.
After a 44-year career at the Met, during which he has led performances of more than 85 operas, James Levine expands his company repertory with his first-ever Met performances of the sparkling Johann Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus.
The Live in HD season continues on Saturday, October 17 with Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher's acclaimed new production of Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello. Dynamic conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performances of the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his innocent wife, Desdemona. The staging, also featuring Željko Lu?i? as Otello's sinister rival, Iago; Dimitri Pittas as Cassio; and Günther Groissböck as Lodovico, also marks the Met debut of set designer Es Devlin, whose previous designs include the 2014 revival of Machinal on Broadway and numerous opera productions for Covent Garden, La Scala, and other leading companies.
Canadian soprano Erin Wall, who in August was featured in the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra's performance of Mahler's “Symphony of a Thousand” led by Andris Nelsons, and American baritone Steven LaBrie, a 2013 George London Encouragement Award winner who has sung Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin with Jessica Lang Dance at BAM and Jacob's Pillow, are the two artists who will open the 2015-16 season of the George London Foundation for Singers.
The Metropolitan Opera will open its 131st season on Monday, September 21 with a new production of Verdi's Otello. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met opening night, a staging by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher of the late Verdi masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit. Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has starred as the doomed Otello around the world to acclaim, makes his Met role debut opposite rising Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in her first-ever performances of Otello's innocent wife Desdemona. Željko Lu?i? adds a new role to his company repertory as the evil Iago, as do Dimitri Pittas as Iago's pawn Cassio and Günther Groissböck as the Venetian ambassador Lodovico. Sher's staging will feature scenic design by acclaimed designer Es Devlin in her Met debut; costume design by six-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber; lighting design by two-time Tony winner Donald Holder; and video design by Luke Halls in his Met debut.
?The 2015-16 season marks two milestones for the George London Foundation for Singers, which has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971: the 45th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition, which gives George London Awards to young singers each year; and the 20th year of its acclaimed recital series, which presents pairs of singers, both established stars and recent George London Award winners, at The Morgan Library & Museum.
This moving drama follows a strong-willed widow and her teenage daughter in World War II as they flee from Rome to provincial Ciociaria in a vain attempt to find safety. Starring as Cesira is Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, who has garnered outstanding reviews throughout Europe and for her rare North American performances. Of a recent recital at Lincoln Center, The New York Times wrote, “The extraordinary Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci has concentrated her career in Europe. Each appearance she makes in America. . . is coveted by opera fans familiar with her intelligent and charismatic artistry.” Antonacci has previously appeared with San Francisco Opera in the title role of Ermione (1992) and as Adalgisa in Norma (1998). Completing the cast are soprano Sarah Shafer, who created the role of Mary in the Company's 2013 world premiere of The Secret Garden, as Cesira's daughter Rosetta; tenor Dimitri Pittas as Michele, a young intellectual who becomes close to both mother and daughter, making his Company debut in the role; and baritone Mark Delavan as the devious Giovanni.
Superstar bass-baritone and native Philadelphian Eric Owens comes home to make his much-anticipated role debut as King Philip II in a new production of Don Carlo, Verdi's grand opera of passion and political intrigue. Five performances will be staged at the Academy of Music, April 24-May 3. Tickets are available via Ticket Philadelphia at 215-893-1018 or operaphila.org.
Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's celebratory Centennial 2015-2016 season, its ninth season under the direction of Maestra Alsop. Through appearances by the world's most renowned artists, premieres of several new works, Baltimore homecomings from local artists or artists who got their start on the BSO stage, exciting signature projects and strengthening of longstanding community partnerships, the BSO marks this important milestone in grand fashion.
Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's celebratory Centennial 2015-2016 season, its ninth season under the direction of Maestra Alsop. Through appearances by the world's most renowned artists, premieres of several new works, Baltimore homecomings from local artists or artists who got their start on the BSO stage, exciting signature projects and strengthening of longstanding community partnerships, the BSO marks this important milestone in grand fashion.
Superstar bass-baritone and native Philadelphian Eric Owens comes home to make his much-anticipated role debut as King Philip II in a new production of Don Carlo, Verdi's grand opera of passion and political intrigue. Five performances will be staged at the Academy of Music, April 24-May 3. Tickets are available via Ticket Philadelphia at 215-893-1018 or operaphila.org.
