Joshua Hopkins News

Salvatore Cordella will make his Met debut as Leicester in this evening's performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, replacing Matthew Polenzani, who is ill.

Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance tonight, New Year's Eve.

New York City Opera has announced the appointment of Myra Huang, whom Opera News has praised as 'among the top accompanists of her generation' and 'a colouristic tour de force,' as Head of Music Staff. The announcement comes on the eve of a 2013 season full of new productions, beginning with Thomas Adès' Powder Her Face, directed by Jay Scheib, February 15-23 at BAM.

Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance on New Year's Eve.

Houston Grand Opera is opening its 2012-2013 season with a lavish and fresh production of one of the world's favorite operas, LA BOHÈME by Giacomo Puccini. The familiar opera tells the story of four bohemian artists that live in the same garret (apartment) in 1830s Paris. The poet, Rodolfo, falls for Mimi, a seamstress suffering from Tuberculosis. His friend Marcello, a painter, has recently broken up with Musetta, but is still fascinated by her. In a series of short glimpses into their lives, the audience sees Rodolfo and Mimi fall into a deep, passionate love that is eventually troubled and torn asunder by Rodolfo's jealousies and concerns about her health.

Houston Grand Opera, with Music Director Patrick Summers and Managing Director Perryn Leech, announces its 2012-13 season, headlined by four new productions. The first of these is Puccini's La boheme, which launches the new season with a new staging by award-winning British director John Caird. To honor 2013's joint bicentennials of Wagner and Verdi, the coming season juxtaposes Tristan und Isolde - starring Ben Heppner and Nina Stemme in a new contemporary staging by Christof Loy - with a revival of Steven Lawless's unforgettable take on Il trovatore. British conductor Trevor Pinnock leads a strong international cast in Mozart's ensemble masterpiece Don Giovanni, while Francesca Zambello's new production of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat brings together stars of Broadway and the opera house in a celebration of America's own contribution to the art. For a more intimate experience, Daniela Barcellona and Lawrence Brownlee star in Rossini's dramma giocoso, The Italian Girl in Algiers.

Beginning on September 14, the Houston Symphony will dedicate the first 3 weeks of the 2012-2013 Classical Season to the Best of Brahms.

The August broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with conductor Andrey Boreyko as he launches the Philharmonic's 2012 residency at Colorado's Bravo!

The New York Philharmonic's 170th subscription season will conclude with Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, leading the Orchestra in an all- Mozart program: the Mass in C minor, Great, and Piano Concerto No. 22, featuring Emanuel Ax - Honorary Member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York - as soloist, tonight, June 20, 2012 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 22 at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 23 at 8:00 p.m. The C-minor Mass will feature performances by soprano Jennifer Zetlan (making her New York Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby (also making his Philharmonic debut), baritone Joshua Hopkins, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. Ms. Zetlan, Ms. Johnson Cano, Mr. Appleby, and Mr. Hopkins will join Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic to perform the C-minor Mass at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival July 27.

The New York Philharmonic's 170th subscription season will conclude with Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, leading the Orchestra in an all- Mozart program: the Mass in C minor, Great, and Piano Concerto No. 22, featuring Emanuel Ax - Honorary Member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York - as soloist, Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 22 at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 23 at 8:00 p.m. The C-minor Mass will feature performances by soprano Jennifer Zetlan (making her New York Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby (also making his Philharmonic debut), baritone Joshua Hopkins, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. Ms. Zetlan, Ms. Johnson Cano, Mr. Appleby, and Mr. Hopkins will join Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic to perform the C-minor Mass at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival July 27.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes its 54th season with Rossini's The Barber of Seville, presented at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, through tonight, April 29, 2012. The production will be the final opera performed in the Luskin/Holmquist era at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes its 54th season with Rossini's The Barber of Seville, presented at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, April 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 2012. The production will be the final opera performed in the Luskin/Holmquist era at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

The New York Philharmonic will return to Colorado's Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival for its tenth annual summer residency - during the Festival's 25th anniversary season - for six concerts, July 20-27, 2012.

Subscriptions are now on sale for the Columbus Symphony's 2012-13 Masterworks and Pops seasons. Masterworks will continue to present eight concerts at the Ohio Theatre and four concerts at the Southern Theatre. All Pops concerts will remain at the Ohio Theatre.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes its 54th season with Rossini's The Barber of Seville, presented at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, April 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 2012. The production will be the final opera performed in the Luskin/Holmquist era at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.