Jonas Kaufmann News

The complete list of presenters at the sixth annual Opera News Awards, which will take place on April 17 at The Plaza in New York City, has been announced: beloved singer Barbara Cook will present the award to tenor Jonas Kaufmann; iconic film director Francis Ford Coppola will present to conductor Riccardo Muti; legendary soprano Renata Scotto will present to soprano Patricia Racette; conductor Andrew Davis will present to soprano Kiri Te Kanawa; and award-winning playwright John Guare will present to bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.

After impressing critics and fans alike as Puccini's Girl of the Golden West at the Metropolitan Opera, this spring Deborah Voigt returns to her home company for a milestone role debut: for the first time, she takes on Brunnhilde - one of opera's most challenging and iconic roles - in a new production of Wagner's Die Walkure.

Though Bach is not the first composer one associates with Claudio Abbado, the maestro brings his considerable wisdom and maturity from a lifetime of making music which ennobles his leadership of the superb Orchestra Mozart in these performances. The sublime simplicity of their performances illuminates the complexities of Bach's works. Recorded live at the Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli, Reggio Emilia, these recordings are now available on CD for the first time on March 15, 2011 from Deutsche Grammophon.

Check here to see if your favourites have picked up the prizes!

The Laurence Olivier Awards - the most prestigious awards in London's Theatreland - will be held this year in a revamped ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Sunday 13 March. Follow full coverage of the event on www.olivierawards.com.

Broadway icon Patti LuPone and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe will co-host the sixth annual Opera News Awards, which will take place on April 17 at The Plaza in New York City.

Marina Poplavskaya will make her Met role debut as Marguerite in the initial run of performances of the Met's new production of Gounod's Faust this fall.

German tenor Jonas Kaufmann returns to the US this spring with a newly recorded album on Decca and in a role debut at the Metropolitan Opera. For his third opera aria recital on Decca, Kaufmann returns to the Italian roles that have excited audiences around the world and garnered widespread praise.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild will celebrate revered soprano Renata Scotto at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse on Sunday, February 27, sharing video clips of her remarkable performances and engaging in an illuminating, far-ranging conversation about her life and venerable career.

Artist Elizabeth Peyton's Wagner, an exhibition of works based on the characters in Der Ring des Nibelungen, will open at the Metropolitan Opera on February 25. Wagner is the second in a series of exhibitions celebrating the Met's new production of the composer's Ring cycle. Peyton's work will be shown at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met and in other locations throughout the opera house; this will be the first time an artist's exhibition will not be limited to the gallery itself. The show will include nearly 30 works. A majority are new monotypes and drawings made for the exhibition.

Artist Elizabeth Peyton's Wagner, an exhibition of works based on the characters in Der Ring des Nibelungen, will open at the Metropolitan Opera on February 25. Wagner is the second in a series of exhibitions celebrating the Met's new production of the composer's Ring cycle. Peyton's work will be shown at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met and in other locations throughout the opera house; this will be the first time an artist's exhibition will not be limited to the gallery itself. The show will include nearly 30 works. A majority are new monotypes and drawings made for the exhibition.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2011-12 season will feature the world's leading singers, conductors, and stage directors in seven new productions, including a world premiere, a Met premiere, and the first complete performances of a new Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle conducted by Music Director James Levine and directed by Robert Lepage.

Though Bach is not the first composer one associates with Claudio Abbado, the maestro brings his considerable wisdom and maturity from a lifetime of making music which ennobles his leadership of the superb Orchestra Mozart in these performances. The sublime simplicity of their performances illuminates the complexities of Bach's works. Recorded live at the Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli, Reggio Emilia, these recordings are now available on CD for the first time on March 15, 2011 from Deutsche Grammophon.

The Laurence Olivier Awards - the most prestigious awards in London's Theatreland - will be held this year in a revamped ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Sunday 13 March. Follow full coverage of the event on www.olivierawards.com.

The nominations for this year's awards are being announced this morning - follow all the news with us!

The Metropolitan Opera Guild will celebrate revered soprano Renata Scotto at Hunter College's Kaye Playhouse on Sunday, February 27, sharing video clips of her remarkable performances and engaging in an illuminating, far-ranging conversation about her life and venerable career.

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Classics, US is proud to start 2011 with a full roster of new recordings featuring long-standing artists as well as the next generation of classical music stars. DG & Decca have long prided themselves of the highest standards of quality, both musically and technically, for each recording and 2011 promises to uphold these long traditions.

Decca Classics has signed an exclusive recording contract with the young Polish soprano, Aleksandra Kurzak, who, as one of the most exciting young singers on the international opera stage, has been thrilling press and public alike with performances in Europe and the US.

It is a season of momentous anniversaries for the Metropolitan Opera Guild: the Guild began the season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary this fall; as publisher of Opera News, the Guild celebrates the magazine's own diamond anniversary in 2011; and the January issue of Opera News marks the 40th anniversary of James Levine's Metropolitan Opera debut (which was June 5, 1971, conducting Tosca). The cover feature sees Scott Rose take on the difficult task of choosing 40 highlights from Levine's 40 storied years at the Met.

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts-the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history-with a 22-week season featuring many of the world's greatest operatic artists, beginning December 18.