SAN FRANCISCO (October 12, 2015) –– San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald announced today the twelve recipients of the 2016 Adler Fellowship, a multi-year performance-oriented residency offering advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the young artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. This prestigious training program has nurtured the development of more than 150 young artists since its inception.
Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky hadn't even opened his mouth, as the Count di Luna, when the audience went wild at the season's premiere of Verdi's IL TROVATORE. It was as if he had just sung Sondheim's “I'm Still Here”--after announcing earlier this year that he had a brain tumor and was cancelling most of the TROVATORE performances--and was proving his perseverance in the face of mortality.
OPERA San Antonio's Board of Directors and Chairman Mel Weingart today announced the slate for OPERA San Antonio's second season as the Resident Opera Company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
Il Trovatore returns to the Met September 25, starring Anna Netrebko as the heroine Leonora in her long-awaited Met role debut. Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the mysterious gypsy Azucena, with Yonghoon Lee as Manrico, Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Manrico's rival Count di Luna, and Štefan Kocán as Ferrando. In later performances, Angela Meade stars as Leonora, Marcello Giordani sings Manrico, Vitaliy Bilyy sings Count di Luna, and Kwangchul Youn sings Ferrando. Zajick and Hvorostovsky reprise their roles with Marco Armiliato leading all performances of David McVicar's 2009 production at the Met this season. The October 3 performance of Il Trovatore will launch the tenth season of the Met's Live in HD series when it is transmitted to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.
The Capitol Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that it will present 11 productions in next season's Met: Live in HD series, beginning with Verdi's Il Trovatore on Saturday, October 3, at 12:55pm. Single tickets for this series are on sale now for $26 Adults; $22 Seniors/Met/CCA Members; and $15 Students. Season subscriptions are also available at $234 Adults; $198 Seniors/Met/CCA Members; and $135 students.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky has withdrawn from three performances of Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Met this season, on October 7, 10, and 17. Hvorostovsky, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June, will sing the opening performances of the opera at the Met as scheduled (September 25 and 29, and October 3 matinee), then return to London for continued treatment.
SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2015 – The Merola Opera Program's Summer Festival concludes with its 2015 artists performing in the Merola Grand Finale tonight, August 22 at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Conductor Antony Walker will lead the orchestra and 2015 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Mo Zhou will stage the program, featuring works by Gounod, Bellini, Tchaikovsky, Jake Heggie, Nikolai, Verdi, Rossini, Humperdinck, Mascagni, and Offenbach. The performance is a culmination of the 12-week Merola Opera training program, and all 23 of the 2015 Merola singers will perform, under the coaching and direction of their fellow artists. A special artists' reception follows the Grand Finale (tickets sold separately).
SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2015 – The Merola Opera Program's Summer Festival concludes with its 2015 artists performing in the Merola Grand Finale Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Conductor Antony Walker will lead the orchestra and 2015 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Mo Zhou will stage the program, featuring works by Gounod, Bellini, Tchaikovsky, Jake Heggie, Nikolai, Verdi, Rossini, Humperdinck, Mascagni, and Offenbach. The performance is a culmination of the 12-week Merola Opera training program, and all 23 of the 2015 Merola singers will perform, under the coaching and direction of their fellow artists. A special artists' reception follows the Grand Finale (tickets sold separately).
The Met was running on all cylinders for the last performance of the season, with Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA in an energized version of the production that premiered in 2012. The trio of principals--soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Amelia, tenor Piotr Beczala as Gustavo and baritone Alexey Markov as Anckarstrom--gave ringing, heart-felt performances in a concept from David Alden that previously seemed half-baked. Now, the singing and acting were so good that one could forget the conceit's shortcomings.
OPERA San Antonio's Board of Directors and Chairman Mel Weingart today announced the slate for OPERA San Antonio's second season as the Resident Opera Company of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
Met Music Director James Levine will lead a starry revival of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, opening April 23 and continuing for four additional performances through May 9.
The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others.
?The 32nd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, March 29 at Temple Emanu-El's Martin Meyer Sanctuary with soprano Julie Adams and pianist John Churchwell. Adams and Churchwell will present a program of works by Alfred Bachelet, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninov and Lee Hoiby.
The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others. The recital is on March 21 at 2pm at the National Opera Center (330 7th Avenue) in New York City. Tickets are $25 at the door. You can purchase tickets by visiting the Art Song Preservation Society website at www.artsongpreservationsocietyny.org
The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others.
Poulenc's music is almost hard to believe; romantic without sweetness, contemporary without alienating, and among the extraordinary composers repertoire this epic opera stands out as a remarkable achievement, and this season Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello has designed a beautiful production to accompany it. That and some of the most impressive vocal power on display anywhere in the city makes the Kennedy Center's latest operatic offering an absolute joy to the senses.
San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program present the 33rd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals, beginning February 8, 2015 with soprano Erin Johnson and pianist Sun Ha Yoon at Temple Emanu-El's Martin Meyer Sanctuary in San Francisco.
OPERA NEWS Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll today announced the recipients of the 10th Annual Opera News Awards. This year's honorees—Piotr Beczala, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sondra Radvanosky, Samuel Ramey and Teresa Stratas—will be feted at a black tie gala celebration on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Previous Opera News Award Winners Martina Arroyo,Gerald Finley and Susan Graham are among the presenters.
