John MacFarlane News

The 45th annual Bach Week Festival, with concerts April 27 and 29 in Evanston, Ill., and May 4 in Chicago, will feature new twists on presenting music by the event's namesake, German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

The 45th annual Bach Week Festival, with concerts April 27 and 29 in Evanston, Ill., and May 4 in Chicago, will feature new twists on presenting music by the event's namesake, German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Following on from the Royal Ballet's popular story ballets such as Giselle and The Winter's Tale, the company now turn their attention to work of Leonard Bernstein to mark a century since his birth. It comes in the form of a stylish mixed bill of Bernstein's compositions created for the concert hall. The bill features two new works, first up is Wayne McGregor's Yugen, a short piece to the distinctive Chichester Psalms. It is, as expected, an intellectual and calculated McGregor work executed with precision to a collection of choral, but unexpectedly jazzy Hebrew texts.

The trials and tribulations of the Met's new take on Puccini's TOSCA have been well documented--with all three principals replaced along with two conductors--and it would be nice to be able to say that everything came out happily-ever-after. Alas. There's nothing wrong with the company's surprise-free new take on one of Italian opera's most famous works that a stronger director couldn't come in and cure.

Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Met's new production of Puccini's Tosca, on December 31, 2017, and January 3, 6, 9, 12, 23, and 27, 2018, replacing James Levine.

Emmanuel Villaume will conduct the Met's new production of Puccini's Tosca, on December 31, 2017, and January 3, 6, 9, 12, 23, and 27, 2018, replacing James Levine.

San Francisco Ballet, long recognized for pushing boundaries in dance, has announced its 2017-18 Season program and schedule. This summer, SF Ballet will return to Festival Napa Valley for one performance only on Friday, July 21, 2017, accompanied by members of the SF Ballet Orchestra. In addition, this October, the Company will once again participate in World Ballet Day LIVE, a day-long streaming event (details to be announced).

Details of The Royal Ballet's 2017/18 Season have been announced. The full production list is as follows:

Birmingham Royal Ballet announce an exciting and diverse season for 2017/2018 Birmingham Royal Ballet is delighted to announce its 2017-18 season - 12 months of world-class dance and music in productions that range from traditional classical ballet, to works that celebrate some of the best choreographers of the 20th century, and to new ballets created for the Company.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

A fleet of articulated lorries, harnessing the equivalent power of 4000 horses, is set to roll out of Birmingham this month as Birmingham Royal Ballet begins its UK tour of Cinderella on a scale comparable to any major rock band's road trip.

This is a first for Australian ballet lovers! The Friends of The Australian Ballet are delighted to announce the Australian Premiere screening of the Royal Ballet's new production of FRANKENSTEIN at Verona Palace Cinema.

Birmingham Royal Ballet announces the 2016/2017 Birmingham Hippodrome season, the 27th season at its home theatre in the Midlands. The season will celebrate the Company's varied repertory, from the spectacular new The Tempest in the autumn through to the return of The Nutcracker for Christmas and Coppelia in the summer of 2017. Over the course of the season, the Company will perform four full-length classic ballets and a programme of shorter works to include the return of Michael Corder's Le Baiser de la fee, John Cranko's Pineapple Poll and a brand new ballet from Company member Ruth Brill called Arcadia.

With MARIA STUARDA at the Met, we're back for the second installment of Donizetti's so-called Tudor Trilogy, with ANNA BOLENA (Anne Boleyn) already off to the gallows and ROBERTO DEVEREUX (with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, it was “Elizabeth and Essex”) still to come. It's the first time the Met is doing all three operas, with the singular soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Anna, Maria and Elisabetta (in DEVEREUX, next month). Her Anna was grand, but her Maria was even better.

Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA opened at the Metropolitan Opera on January 29th. The second chapter of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky's quest to sing all three Donizetti Tudor queen operas in the same season has her playing the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Sir David McVicar's stunning production turns on the dramatic confrontation between Mary and her arch nemesis, Queen Elizabeth-compellingly portrayed by soprano Elza van den Heever. Riccardo Frizza conducts.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, today announced Memory and Reckoning, a confluence of activities related to the Chicago premiere of Mieczysaw Weinberg's The Passenger, on stage at Lyric tonight, February 24 through March 15. This poignant and gripping 20th-century masterpiece portrays the story of the Holocaust from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, and was only recently rediscovered after more than 40 years of suppression.

The Joyce Theater Foundation presents the long-awaited NYC return of the UK's Royal Ballet – first time in over 11 years – at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center beginning with a gala performance on June 23, followed by two mix-billed programs of works by Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlett and Christopher Wheeldon through June 28. Tickets for The Royal Ballet can be arranged online at www.DavidHKochTheater.com or by calling (212)-496-0600.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, today announced Memory and Reckoning, a confluence of activities related to the Chicago premiere of Mieczysaw Weinberg's The Passenger, on stage at Lyric February 24 through March 15. This poignant and gripping 20th-century masterpiece portrays the story of the Holocaust from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, and was only recently rediscovered after more than 40 years of suppression.

Strange things are afoot in the deep darkness of the woods when humans, wood nymphs, water sprites, goblins, witches, and other creatures intermingle - knowingly or otherwise. Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Antonin Dvorák's Rusalka, the famed Czech composer's darkly sensual fairy tale, which makes its eagerly anticipated company premiere in a new production opening on Saturday, February 22, with six performances through Sunday, March 16. Performance dates are February 22, 26, March 4, 7, and 10, all at 7:30pm, with a matinee on March 16 at 2pm.

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Antonin Dvorak's Rusalka, the famed Czech composer's darkly sensual fairy tale, which makes its eagerly anticipated company premiere in a new production opening on Saturday, February 22, with six performances through Sunday, March 16. Performance dates are February 22, 26, March 4, 7, and 10, all at 7:30pm, with a matinee on March 16 at 2pm.