Edward Gardner News

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in a celebration of the centennial of English composer, conductor, and pianist Benjamin Britten. The program will include Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, featuring tenor Paul Appleby and Philharmonic Principal Horn Philip Myers, and Britten's Spring Symphony, with soprano Kate Royal (in her Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Philharmonic subscription debut), tenor Paul Appleby, New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus directed by Dianne Berkun-Menaker. The concerts, which include a performance on the composer's 100th birthday, November 22, will take place tonight, November 21, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 23 at 8:00 p.m.

Erin Morley will sing the role of Sophie in all performances of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier this season, replacing Mojca Erdmann, who is still recovering from a recent case of pneumonia.

To commemorate the centennial of the opera's 1913 U.S. premiere at the Met, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier returns for a series of performances conducted by Edward Gardner and featuring a cast of international singers making company debuts and role debuts. Viennese soprano Martina Serafin sings her first Met performances of one of her signature roles, the Marschallin. Alice Coote, who currently stars as Detective Anne Strawson in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, sings the trouser role of the Marschallin's young lover, Octavian, while Mojca Erdmann makes her company role debut as Sophie, the innocent young woman who comes between the two. Peter Rose reprises his acclaimed interpretation of the Marschallin's oafish cousin, Baron Ochs; Hans-Joachim Ketelsen sings Sophie's protective father, Faninal; and Eric Cutler returns to the role of the Italian Singer. On December 3, German mezzo-soprano Daniela Sindram will make her Met debut as Octavian, a role she will also sing on December 7 and 10. On December 13, French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will sing her first company performance of Octavian. At the December 3 performance, two graduates of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program will sing principal roles: Erin Morley as Sophie and Mario Chang as the Italian Singer.

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra kicks off November on Halloween with Carl Orff's incredibly popular Carmina Burana! The month continues with pianist Emanuel Ax performing Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the return of Sir Andrew Davis conducting a programme of Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra kicks off November on Halloween with Carl Orff's incredibly popular Carmina Burana! The month continues with pianist Emanuel Ax performing Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the return of Sir Andrew Davis conducting a programme of Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will lead the New York Philharmonic in a celebration of the centennial of English composer, conductor, and pianist Benjamin Britten. The program will include Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, featuring tenor Paul Appleby and Philharmonic Principal Horn Philip Myers, and Britten's Spring Symphony, with soprano Kate Royal (in her Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Philharmonic subscription debut), tenor Paul Appleby, New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus directed by Dianne Berkun-Menaker. The concerts, which include a performance on the composer's 100th birthday, November 22, will take place Thursday, November 21, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 23 at 8:00 p.m.

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents 24 concerts in October and November. The October performances range from Benjamin Britten's brilliant Violin Concerto performed by James Ehnes; to a special appearance by Rufus Wainwright, whom Elton John called the 'the greatest songwriter on the planet'; to a new performance experience featuring mesmerizing acrobats in Cirque de la Symphonie; to acclaimed Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska performing the Piano Concerto by esteemed Polish composer, Witold Lutos?awski.

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents 24 concerts in October and November. The October performances range from Benjamin Britten's brilliant Violin Concerto performed by James Ehnes; to a special appearance by Rufus Wainwright, whom Elton John called the 'the greatest songwriter on the planet'; to a new performance experience featuring mesmerizing acrobats in Cirque de la Symphonie; to acclaimed Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska performing the Piano Concerto by esteemed Polish composer, Witold Lutos?awski.

The third week of the 2013 Mostly Mozart Festival continues with opera performances, both classic and contemporary. Following their acclaimed 2011 Festival production of Don Giovanni, the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) returns to Mostly Mozart with a new production of Mozart's masterwork comic opera Le nozze di Figaro. The final two Festival performances of this great work take place at the Rose Theater in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center tonight, August 13 and August 15, each at 7pm.

The 2013 Mostly Mozart Festival comes to a close in its fourth week, with more than 10 events taking place between August 19 and August 24. The final week begins with a special chamber music concert by the celebrated Emerson String Quartet, 7:00pm on August 19 at Alice Tully Hall. The ensemble, which made its first Festival appearance in 1983 and has performed nearly every season since that time, makes its highly anticipated first New York City appearance with its newest member, cellist Paul Watkins. The Emerson String Quartet will add to the Festival's overarching focus on Beethoven by performing all three of Beethoven's famed "Razumovsky" Quartets: String Quartet in F major, Op. 59; String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59; and String Quartet in C major, Op. 59.

The third week of the 2013 Mostly Mozart Festival continues with opera performances, both classic and contemporary. Following their acclaimed 2011 Festival production of Don Giovanni, the Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) returns to Mostly Mozart with a new production of Mozart's masterwork comic opera Le nozze di Figaro. The final two Festival performances of this great work take place at the Rose Theater in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center on August 13 and 15, each at 7pm.

Week Two of the 2013 Mostly Mozart Festival begins with the first of two concert series with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra on Tuesday, August 6 and Wednesday, August 7 in Avery Fisher Hall with French conductor Jeremie Rhorer. Rhorer, returning for the first time since his debut in 2011, will lead Mozart's Overture to Le nozze di Figaro and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1, along with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K.503, with guest pianist Paul Lewis, continuing this season's overarching theme of musical lineage between the two iconic composers.

It's time for the 2013 Olivier Awards - we'll be updating live with all the winners in all the categories!

The National Theatre's production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time leads the list with eight nominations, followed by the toe-tapping new musical Top Hat receiving seven, and the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre's revival of Sweeney Todd in close competition with six. Other stand-out nominations include The Audience and Kiss Me, Kate receiving five each, and Constellations, The Bodyguard and Twelfth Night with four.

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.

A quickly-rising star who is already one of the opera world's most sought-after vocalists, soprano Susanna Phillips has filled the upcoming season with an exciting schedule of engagements. Phillips returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera for her fifth consecutive season, makes her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut, and taps into her Southern heritage as Stella in Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with Renee Fleming in performances at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Ildar Abdrazakov takes the title role in Don Giovanni for the first time at the Met beginning November 28, conducted by Edward Gardner, in his second major Mozart role assumption of the season. The first revival of Michael Grandage's 2011 production features a cast of rising stars, almost all of whom make house role debuts in Mozart's classic opera of seduction, vengeance, and retribution. Other cast members singing their first Met performances of their roles include Susanna Phillips as Donna Anna,Emma Bell as Donna Elvira, Ekaterina Siurina as Zerlina, Charles Castronovo as Don Ottavio, Erwin Schrott as Leporello, and David Soar in his Met debut as Masetto; they are joined by Raymond Aceto as the vengeful Commendatore.

A quickly-rising star who is already one of the opera world's most sought-after vocalists, soprano Susanna Phillips has filled the upcoming season with an exciting schedule of engagements. Phillips returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera for her fifth consecutive season, makes her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut, and taps into her Southern heritage as Stella in Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with Renee Fleming in performances at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago.