Opera Theatre St. Louis continues its 43rd season of exceptionally fine opera with another world premiere. An American Soldier is their twenty-seventh such premiere, a record which sets OTSL among the forefront of producers of new opera in America.
On May 12, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented a searing rendition of RIGOLETTO, Giuseppe Verdi's dark tale of curses and murder. Recently, General Director Placido Domingo said of this work, 'I can think of no opera that better demonstrates the power of deeply emotional music melded with incredibly gripping drama.'
Verdi's Luisa Miller returns to the Met for the first time since 2006, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the title character and Piotr Beczala as her lover, Rodolfo.Placido Domingo adds a new role to his Met repertory as Miller, Luisa's father, a role he shares with Luca Salsi. Olesya Petrova sings the widowed duchess Federica, Alexander Vinogradov is the lord Walter, and Dmitry Belosselskiy sings the role of Wurm. Bertrand de Billy conducts all performances of the revival which runs for 7 performances from March 29 through April 21, 2018.
On March 11, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented Christoph Willibald Gluck's ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE in conjunction with Joffrey Ballet Chicago at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Having previously presented the Italian version of the opera with a mezzo-soprano as Orfeo, L. A. Opera offered the 1774 French version with a tenor Orpheus and a great deal more dance this time
Rossini's Semiramide is presented at the Met for the first time in 25 years, with eight performances beginning February 19, 2018, led by Maurizio Benini. The cast, comprised of artists considered by many to be amongst the world's leading bel canto singers, includes Angela Meade in the title role, Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace, Javier Camarena as Idreno, Ildar Abdrazakov as King Assur and Ryan Speedo Green as the High Priest Oroe. On March 10, 2018, the production will be transmitted to cinemas throughout the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series.
The SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved a Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment as part of a broader program to combat sexual harassment and achieve workplace equity.
LA Opera will present its premiere of Candide, Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical comedy classic. Music Director James Conlon will conduct a cast led by Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer and Tony winner Christine Ebersole, both making their company debuts. Performances take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012).
Due to ticket demand, LA Opera has scheduled an additional matinee performance of Candide, Leonard Bernstein's 1956 Broadway classic. The added performance will take place on Saturday, February 17, at 2pm.
On January 27, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented the Bernstein work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with a cast that included Emmy-winning television star Kelsey Grammer. He is best remembered for his two-decade-long portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the situation comedies Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. As Voltaire and Pangloss, Grammer had a huge speaking role that he acquitted with a commanding personality and considerable wit. Surprisingly, he sang quite well, too.
The Unique Panel Discussion will celebrate a new book by Ronald Rand, "CREATE! How Extraordinary Artists Live to Create and Create to Live" at the historical theatrical club, The Lambs 3 West 51st Street, New York City, Monday, March 12th, 2018, 7:00-8:00pm. There is no charge for the Event. Seating is limited - reservations are necessary at: (212) 586-0306 or RSVP@The-Lambs.org
The 2009 winner of the George London-Leonie Rysanek Award and American opera's latest Rigoletto: Marjorie Owens, soprano, and Quinn Kelsey, baritone, with Myra Huang, piano, will offer the second event in the season's George London Foundation Recital Series at The Morgan Library & Museum on Sunday, December 10, 2017, at 4:00 pm.
On Oct 14, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, NABUCCO in a new and extremely well detailed production by Thaddeus Strassberger.
On October 7, 2017, Los Angeles Opera presented Georges Bizet's THE PEARL FISHERS starring sweet-voiced Mexican star tenor Javier Camarena as Nadir. Steel-voiced Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza, was Zurga, his rival for the hand of Leila, a beautiful priestess who had taken a vow of chastity.
Soprano Erin Wall is one busy woman. Luckily, the talented (and funny!) singer had some time to sit down with BroadwayWorld's Taylor Long to talk about singing, joke about her composer boyfriends, and share some of the preparation involved in mounting a large-scale opera like ARABELLA.
CARMEN, the title character in Georges Bizet's opera, is a young woman who wants the social freedoms nineteenth century men simply took for granted. Sung magnificently by Ana Maria Martinez, Carmen is suave and self-confident, but enroute to certain destruction. Currently, L A Opera is offering an excellent performance of this beloved opera that Angelinos should not miss.
George Frideric Handel composed the opera seria, ALCINA, for a 1735 premiere at London's Covent Garden. Handel's anonymous librettist based his text on Riccardo Broschi's 1728 book for L'ISOLA DI ALCINA. Three years following its 1735 run, ALCINA was revived but after that it fell dormant until the twentieth century. On July 29, 2017, Santa Fe Opera premiered a co-production of ALCINA with the National Opera of Bordeaux and the Teatro Real of Madrid.
The Golden Cockerel was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's last opera. He wrote it in 1905 as a satire on the Russian government of the time. As with many political satires, the libretto that Vladimir Belsky based on Pushkin's poem THE TALE OF THE GOLDEN COCKEREL can still make some points over one hundred years later. On July 28, 2017, Santa Fe Opera presented THE GOLDEN COCKEREL in a production by Paul Curran conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
On July 22, 2017, Santa Fe Opera presented the world premiere of Mason Bates and Mark Campbell's opera THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS. The new piece was co-commissioned by Santa Fe, Seattle, and San Francisco Operas. Director Kevin Newbury used a great deal of new technology in telling Jobs' story. In eighteen short scenes, a prologue and an epilogue, he covered important events in Steve's life by touching on specific dates in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties and early twenty-first century. Since there is no intermission in this ninety-minute piece, the drama constantly builds to its eventual climax with the death of the hero, and the denouement leaves the audience to contemplate his values and the effect his life had on all of us.
On July 21, 2017, Santa Fe Opera presented Ron Daniels' production of Gaetano Donizetti's bel canto work, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. Beginning with a storm and several huge rainbows, the open sides of Santa Fe Opera's Crosby Theatre allowed the audience to watch the sun set as the orchestra played the opera's overture. Based on Sir Walter Scott's novel, THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR, the opera tells the story of a young woman who loses her reason when forced to marry a man she does not love.
Anna Netrebko reprises one of her most acclaimed roles as Tatiana, the naive heroine of Tchaikovsky's opera, adapted from Pushkin's classic verse novel. Peter Mattei stars as the title character, who rejects Tatiana's love until it's too late. Eugene Onegin airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, August 13 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)
