James Levine News

Check out the excerpt from Act I of Mozart's 'Così fan tutte,' conducted by James Levine in his first Met performance in two years.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents Concertos for Orchestra tonight and tomorrow, October 4-5, 2013 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Guest conductor Asher Fisch leads Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, the overture to Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major featuring Principal Clarinet Todd Levy.

Carnegie Hall has announced its October 2013 calendar updates. Details below!

Verdi's Falstaff starring Ambrogio Maestri will be Live in HD at The Ridgefield Playhouse from the stage of The Metropolitan Opera in New York on Sunday, December 15, at 5 p.m.

The 92nd season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will be launched on Saturday, October 12, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Case Scaglione will lead selections from all four movements of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. This is the first program in this season's series, Points of Entry, in which each concert explores facets of music and the orchestra itself through a single, influential score. The performance will feature the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus, Kent Tritle, director.

Music Director James Levine returns to the Met podium after a two-year absence, greeted by a standing ovation to conducts Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' on September 24, 2013. Check out the video below!

Not many opera performances start with a standing ovation before a single note is sung, but the season's first COSI FAN TUTTE on September 24 was one of those rare occasions. It marked the return of conductor James Levine after a two-year absence, leading the performance from a motorized chair at a specially constructed podium. He had the orchestra—and the audience—in the palm of his hand.

The Dallas Opera has announced the opening production of their 2013-2014 “By Love Transformed” Season: Georges Bizet's colorful, sensual and passionate 19th century masterpiece, CARMEN, one of the most beloved and popular works in the entire opera canon.

After an absence of more than two years, Music Director James Levine returned to the Met podium in triumph last night, leading the season premiere of Mozart's Così fan tutte. Entering the orchestra pit, the maestro was greeted by a minute-long standing ovation and cheers from the packed house before launching into the performance. Levine, who had been sidelined by health issues, made his comeback with the Met Orchestra in concert at Carnegie Hall last May, but this was his first appearance at the opera house since the end of the 2010–11 season. “[He] led his beloved musicians like a man rejuvenated,” the Associated Press says. “This was prime Levine: a lithe, energetic, transparent account of Mozart's miraculous score, brisk but not rushed, polished and profound. His energy seemed never to flag throughout the long evening.”

Soprano Susanna Phillips - winner of the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Artist Award in 2010 - is a singer who 'demonstrates rare stylistic fluency, canny pathos and dynamic finesse,' according to the Financial Times, which added: 'Susanna Phillips - remember the name.' The Alabama-born soprano has a higher profile than ever during 2013-14, including her sixth consecutive season at the Metropolitan Opera. Phillips starts her Met season tonight, portraying Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte under the baton of music director James Levine in his long-awaited return to the podium. The Dallas Morning News declared her to be 'a glorious Fiordiligi, her soprano honeyed and agile.' This Così runs until October 5, with a return in the spring; the final performance, onApril 26, will be transmitted to audiences worldwide in the Met's ever-popular Live in HD series. Phillips will also sing the role of Rosalinde in a new staging of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus by two-time Tony Award-winner Jeremy Sams as part of the Met's New Year's Eve gala, with performances until February 22. At the Met again in April, she plays Musetta in Puccini's La bohème, reprising the role in which she made her house debut in 2008. After a recent Met performance, the New York Times said: 'Phillips sparkled as the sassy Musetta, her bright, nimble soprano tinged with a coquettish flair.' The April 5 La bohème will be her first Live in HD broadcast of the season. Phillips has been praised by the Aspen Times for her 'heart-tugging phrasing' in the role of Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes; she takes up the role again in a concert performance of Peter Grimes with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony, in Missouri and at Carnegie Hall on the composer's 100th birthday (Nov 22).

Tenor Matthew Polenzani, who has been praised as "perhaps the finest tenor voice of his generation" (Boston Phoenix), and fast-rising young star soprano Corinne Winters will launch the 2013-14 season of events of The George London Foundation for Singers with a recital at The Morgan Library and Museum on Sunday, October 20, 2013, at 4:30 PM. The George London Foundation Recital Series presents pairs of outstanding opera singers, many of whom were winners of a George London prize early in their careers or are recent George London Award recipients. Mr. Polenzani is a 1998 George London Award winner, and Ms. Winters won a George London Award in 2012 (watch Corinne Winters's George London Award-winning performance of Meyerbeer's "Robert, toi que j'aime"here).

AOP (American Opera Projects) and The Phoenix Concerts will co-produce 'AOP25: Celebrating Composers & the Voice,' a concert featuring the work of composers and librettists from AOP's C&V (Composers & the Voice) program, an annual fellowship that trains composers to write for the operatic voice. The concert will take place Friday, October 11 at 8PM at the Church of Saint Matthew and Saint Timothy: 26 West 84th Street, New York City.

Under the direction of Gerard Mortier, the Teatro Real is fast becoming one of the world's most innovative and exciting opera houses. With eight performances scheduled for early 2014-January 29 to February 11-Teatro Real will mount the first-ever production of Charles Wuorinen and Annie Proulx's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

Under the direction of Gerard Mortier, the Teatro Real is fast becoming one of the world's most innovative and exciting opera houses. With eight performances scheduled for early 2014—January 29 to February 11—Teatro Real will mount the first-ever production of Charles Wuorinen and Annie Proulx's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

The editors of Opera News are pleased to announce the honorees for the ninth annual Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made invaluable contributions to the art form: director Patrice Chéreau, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, bass-baritone James Morris and soprano Nina Stemme. The Opera News Awards ceremonywill take place on Sunday, April 13 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents Concertos for Orchestra on October 4-5, 2013 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Guest conductor Asher Fisch leads Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, the overture to Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major featuring Principal Clarinet Todd Levy.

The Metropolitan Opera will open its 2013-14 season on September 23 at 6:30 p.m. with a new production of Tchaikovsky's romantic tragedy Eugene Onegin, directed by Deborah Warner in her Met debut. Valery Gergiev returns to the Met for the first time since 2010 to conduct the performance, which will feature Anna Netrebko-the first soprano in Met history to star in three consecutive opening night performances-in her first company performances as the naive heroine Tatiana, whose infatuation with the title character has tragic repercussions. Mariusz Kwiecien brings his acclaimed interpretation of Onegin to the Met for the first time, opposite Piotr Beczala, who reprises his celebrated portrayal of Lenski. Oksana Volkova sings the role of Tatiana's sister, Olga, and Alexei Tanovitski sings Prince Gremin, the older man who offers Tatiana security. This cast sings eight performances of the opera through October 19, with the October 5 matinee performance transmitted live to more than 1,900 movie theaters in 64 countries around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Due to an unexpected surgical procedure, Warner was unable to travel to the Met to stage Eugene Onegin, which is being directed here by her longtime collaborator Fiona Shaw.

Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, discusses the future of opera. In an article posted today in Bloomberg, he says, 'Today the notion that high art can also be entertainment is anathema to those who think that genius is not suited to accessibility and that opera presentations should be a Spartan exercise. This concept has potentially threatened opera's very existence, resulting in the staging of some operas over the last several decades that misguidedly deconstruct familiar plots, thereby depriving audiences -- particularly new ones -- of the satisfaction of being able to follow the original storylines.'

The Metropolitan Opera and Le Poisson Rouge announced details for "An Evening of Britten and Muhly," two concerts at Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Metropolitan Opera stars Patricia Racette, Kathleen Kim, and Iestyn Davies will perform at the event. Composer Nico Muhly will host and perform on piano.

James Levine and The MET Orchestra return for their annual series at Carnegie Hall with three concerts this season in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The series launches onSunday, October 13 at 3:00 p.m. with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato singing Rossini'sGiovanna d'Arco as well as arias from Mozart'sLa clemenza di Tito. Also on the program are Verdi's Overture to I vespri Siciliani, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, and Elliott Carter's Variations for Orchestra. This marks Maestro Levine's first performance at Carnegie Hall since his triumphant return to the podium on May 19.