Georges Bizet News

The Music Academy of the West will inaugurate an unprecedented partnership with the world-renowned New York Philharmonic and present a new production of Georges Bizet's popular opera Carmen in honor of Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday as part of the Academy's 67th annual Summer Festival. The Music Academy will present some 200 events over the course of its coming season, which begins June 16 and concludes August 9.

Ballet San Jose will conclude its 2014 repertory season—the first under the leadership of new Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño—with Roland Petit's iconic story ballet, Carmen, and Twyla Tharp's masterful In the Upper Room in three performances May 9-11 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Considered one of Twyla Tharp's most accomplished and striking works, In the Upper Room features a commissioned score by Philip Glass that both propels and liberates the dancers in Tharp's physically demanding choreography. Since its premiere in 1949, Carmen has remained one of inventive French choreographer Roland Petit's most popular ballets for its keen character studies, theatrical staging and soaring dances. Performances will be given Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 pm and Sunday, May 11, at 1:30 pm. For more information about Ballet San Jose, visit www.balletsj.org .

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) announces its 74th continuous season of producing opera featuring four mainstage productions for its 2014-2015 Season, which will include Giacomo Puccini'sMadame Butterfly, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Così fan tutte, Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles), and Gian Carlo Menotti'sThe Consul.

Chicagoland will get a preview of new songs from the Broadway-bound show, Ever After, by Deerfield native Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, as well as experience some of the best in opera as Roosevelt's Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) presents VIVID 2014 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 at the Auditorium Theatre.

Guest Conductor Leonard Slatkin returns to Heinz Hall to lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a BNY Mellon Grand Classics program featuring French masters and a composer performing his own concerto today, March 14-16.

Am Sonntag, 9. Ma?rz 2014 findet um 11.00 Uhr die fu?nfte Matinee der Reihe „Das Ensemble stellt sich vor' in dieser Saison im Gustav Mahler-Saal der Wiener Staatsoper statt. Margarita Gritskova (Mezzosopran) singt anstelle der erkrankten Ileana Tonca, ihr Partner an diesem Vormittag ist James Kryshak (Tenor). Die beiden Ensemblemitglieder des Hauses am Ring pra?sentieren Arien und Duette von Georg Friedrich Ha?ndel, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Camille Saint-Sa??ns, Kurt Weill, Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowski, Aaron Copland und Sergei Slonimsky. Am Klavier werden sie begleitet von David Aronson.

The new year has already brought notable success for Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where the hotly anticipated American premiere of the long-lost Holocaust opera The Passenger-hailed by the Associated Press as 'the latest coup for a company known for producing new works'-took the national and local press by storm, and where the company's Rigoletto revival was pronounced 'glorious' (Theater Jones). These accolades come at an exciting time for the company, which continues this season's extraordinary line-up with the launch of the first American presentation of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Das Rheingold by La Fura dels Baus; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, named one of the twelve 'must-see opera events of the season' (Opera News); a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, which boasts designs by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi.

Guest Conductor Leonard Slatkin returns to Heinz Hall to lead the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in a BNY Mellon Grand Classics program featuring French masters and a composer performing his own concerto on March 14-16.

General and Artistic Director Michael Egel and the Board of Directors have announced casting for the operas of the 42nd Summer Festival Season. The three, full-scale grand operas will be presented in 15 performances between June 27 and July 20, 2014 at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola Iowa. A fourth production will run for 3 performances on July 10 and 19 at the newly renovated Des Moines Social Club in Des Moines as part of the company's newly-minted 2nd Stages Series. The Summer Festival Season repertory includes the return of a timeless operatic classic paired with two operas which will be company premieres - the first is a modern masterpiece and the second is a sparkling farce by opera's greatest comedic composer, Rossini. It's truly a season for everyone from first-time opera-goers to lifelong devotees highlighted by Des Moines Metro Opera's exceptional attention to details, including casting some of the most remarkable vocal talent in America today.

Opera Idaho presents Carmen by Georges Bizet tonight, February 28, 2014 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 2:30pm at The Morrison Center.

Opera Idaho presents Carmen by Georges Bizet on Friday, February 28, 2014 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 2:30pm at The Morrison Center.

Minnesota Opera announces its 2014–2015 season, which presents a world premiere, a company premiere, two masterpieces not seen at Minnesota Opera in nearly three decades and a new production of an operatic blockbuster. All five productions are new to Minnesota audiences.

The new year has already brought notable success for Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where the hotly anticipated American premiere of the long-lost Holocaust opera The Passenger-hailed by the Associated Press as 'the latest coup for a company known for producing new works'-took the national and local press by storm, and where the company's Rigoletto revival was pronounced 'glorious' (Theater Jones). These accolades come at an exciting time for the company, which continues this season's extraordinary line-up with the launch of the first American presentation of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Das Rheingold by La Fura dels Baus; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, named one of the twelve 'must-see opera events of the season' (Opera News); a new HGO production of Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, which boasts designs by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi.

Flowers, hearts and marriage are showcased in the sounds of love and affection in the Utah Symphony's Valentine's Day performance this weekend, Feb. 14 - 15 at Abravanel Hall.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) consistently brings the best the opera world has to offer to Houston stages. Time and time again, they cast operas with incredible talent and put on productions that are visually stunning as well. Their latest production of RIGOLETTO is no exception. Everything that makes performances at HGO exciting was perfectly in place. The auditorium was buzzing with excitement about the show, the cast was vocally impressive and on point, and the orchestra was playing with all the gusto and pizzazz that Giuseppe Verdi's darkly toned score requires.

Flowers, hearts and marriage are showcased in the sounds of love and affection in the Utah Symphony's Valentine's Day performance on Feb. 14 - 15 at Abravanel Hall. Fall in love with Maestro Thierry Fischer as he leads guest Violinist Itamar Zorman through Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto in D Major." Composed in 1878, this concerto is one of the best known and is considered to be one of the most technically difficult.

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced Utah Opera's 2014-15 season. The company's 37th season will feature four productions between October 2014 and May 2015, including the company premieres of Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. The season will also feature the debut of Utah Symphony's Music Director Thierry Fischer in his first Utah Opera conducting role, leading The Rake's Progress.

Vancouver Opera unveils its bold, new look and feel - the first major rebranding of the company since 1985. The fresh contemporary look is part of the company's new long-term strategy aimed at broadening and deepening its connection with the communities it serves, while building a new generation of operagoers.

Orange County, Calif.—Dec. 10, 2013—Singing lines of sweet emotion transform into a joyful and abundantly virtuosic showpiece—Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto—which soars in the hands of electrifying violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who also leads Pacific Symphony from the concertmaster's chair for the remainder of the program. Esteemed as “the heart's jewel” by the great violinist Joseph Joachim, Mendelssohn's concerto is led by Assistant Conductor Alejandro Gutiérrez, who makes his classical series debut during this first concert of the New Year, “Nadja Plays Mendelssohn.” Described as an artist whose talent “will make you hang breathlessly on every note” (Los Angeles Times), Salerno-Sonnenberg stands out for her passionate and powerful sound, her risk-taking musical prowess and her dynamic presence. Apart from being an international soloist, she is also the music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra and founder of record label NSS Music. Salerno-Sonnenberg leads the Symphony in two pieces that emphasize the strings: Rodion Shchedrin's fiery “Carmen” Suite based on Bizet's opera and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's “Prologue and Variations.”

The Dallas Opera has announced that, through the generosity of The Titus Family, a brand-new recital series has been created to showcase well-established singers in programs dedicated to preserving the fine art of “art song.” The series launch will take place tonight, January 4, 2014 in Dallas City Performance Hall (2520 Flora Street, Dallas) at 7:30 p.m.