George Gagnidze News

San Francisco Opera's 2016-17 Season opens Friday, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier in a new production by Sir David McVicar.

Fathom Events and The Metropolitan Opera present "The Met: Live in HD' 2016 Summer Encores," a series of four encore performances from past Live in HD seasons in select U.S. cinemas nationwide.

Jonas Kaufmann has canceled his performances in this season's new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut due to illness.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced the Company's 2016–17 Season repertory and roster of international guest artists, conductors and creative teams scheduled to appear at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as initial programming for SF Opera Lab 2017 presentations at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera's Taube Atrium Theater. The Company's 94th Season will also mark Matthew Shilvock's inaugural year as San Francisco Opera's new general director, succeeding his mentor and internationally respected impresario, David Gockley, who will step down on July 31, 2016.

The popular verismo double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci returns to the Met beginning January 21.

The Met's production of Verdi's great opera RIGOLETTO, is often referred to as the 'Ratpack' version--because it is set in the Las Vegas days of Frank Sinatra and his high-living cronies. From its debut, it was a huge success for the company and with good cause. It was brilliantly conceived and sung, even though the title role seemed fuzzier than it usually is in the standard setting. But how would it stand up, season after season, I wondered, when the novelty wore off? The good news is that the production (excitingly designed by Christine Jones) not only remains effective and entertaining, but, in a key way, it is even better than at the premiere nearly three years ago.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual galas--celebrating each year's winner of the Tucker Award to young American singers--are known for two things. First, they are notoriously fun evenings of opera warhorses and, second, they are guessing games: Which of the singers scheduled to perform won't show up? This year's gala fulfilled the first object delectably, as it celebrated mezzo Jamie Barton, but, surprise!, almost everyone appeared as scheduled, with one very noticeable exception.

When singers seem to come out of nowhere, it's usually not the case at all, but the culmination of years of hard work. But for Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko--the Met's current Gilda in the lively 'Ratpack' production of Verdi's RIGOLETTO--it certainly seemed like it.

Beginning tonight, October 16, Puccini's Tosca returns to the Met for thirteen performances starring four sopranos as the tempestuous title character.

Verdi's Rigoletto returns to the Met October 20 for fifteen performances. Michael Mayer's 2013 production, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, will star George Gagnidze in the title role opposite two singers in company role debuts: Olga Peretyatko as Gilda and Stephen Costello as the Duke. Spanish maestro Pablo Heras-Casado will lead the initial performances of the opera, which also feature Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile and Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Leoson, in her Met debut, as Maddalena. Later performances this season will star Željko Lu?i? in the title role and Piotr Beczala as the Duke, roles both sang in the new production premiere of Mayer's staging, opposite 2009 National Council Auditions winner Nadine Sierra in her Met debut as Gilda. Roberto Abbado conducts a cast that also features Russian bass Dimitry Ivashchenko in his Met debut as Sparafucile and Nancy Fabiola Herrera as Maddalena.

Beginning October 16, Puccini's Tosca returns to the Met for thirteen performances starring four sopranos as the tempestuous title character.

LA Opera has partnered with Classical KUSC for the ninth consecutive year to bring the excitement of live performances to KUSC listeners. The opening night of LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season, a double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Pagliacci, beginning at 6pm tonight, September 12, will be broadcast locally on 91.5fm.

(Los Angeles) September 8, 2015 — LA Opera has partnered with Classical KUSC for the ninth consecutive year to bring the excitement of live performances to KUSC listeners. The opening night of LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season, a double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Pagliaccibeginning at 6pm on September 12, will be broadcast locally on 91.5fm. The live broadcast will also be streamed online for audiences around the world at KUSC.org.

This season's Live in HD Summer Encores series ends today, July 29 with one of the Met's most popular and beloved operas, AIDA, in a spectacular staging that captures the grandeur of ancient Egypt.

This season's Live in HD Summer Encores series ends on July 29 with one of the Met's most popular and beloved operas, AIDA, in a spectacular staging that captures the grandeur of ancient Egypt.

Plácido Domingo, the Eli and Edythe Broad General Director of LA Opera, has announced new details for the opening production of the company's 30th Anniversary Season. The 2015/16 season will open on September 12 with a double bill featuring two of LA Opera's most celebrated productions, Gianni Schicchi and Pagliacci, and highlighting Mr. Domingo's artistry as both singer and conductor.

It was 'out with the old, in with the new' for another of the Franco Zeffirelli productions that were once the Metropolitan Opera's bread and butter, designed for audiences to cheer for the scenery even when the cast might not have been top drawer. This time, the victims of changing times (and administrations) were the twin bill of Mascagni's CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA and Leoncavallo's PAGLIACCI.

The Met's first new production in 45 years of the enduringly popular verismo double bill, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, will open April 14.

Željko Lucic has withdrawn from his spring Met engagements due to illness. In his place, George Gagnidze will sing Alfio in the new production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. Gagnidze, who will also sing Tonio in Pagliacci as originally scheduled, will join Marcelo Álvarez in performing in both halves of the evening's double bill; Álvarez sings both Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci.

Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, has announced the company's 2015/16 season. This will be the 30th season presented by the company, created by Mr. Domingo in collaboration with Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon and President and CEOChristopher Koelsch. The company's 30th anniversary season will include six mainstage productions and two concerts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with a total of 40 performances taking place in that venue, as well as 13 performances presented elsewhere through the company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open onSeptember 12, 2015, and will run through June 19, 2016.