Lawrence Brownlee News

Gary Naylor enjoys his first experience of opera beamed from the New York Met into the cinemas of the UK. Inevitably, one can hardly go wrong in the company of Seville's celebrated barber, despite quite a few hiccups on the way.

?Bartlett Sher's effervescent production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) returns to Town Hall Theater's big screen as part the Metropolitan Opera 'Live in HD' series.

The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD Series continues in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre at 1 pm today, November 22nd with Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA.

Today, November 21, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 80th Annual Luncheon presents 'Brava, Jessye!' to salute the legendary Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir titled Stand Up Straight and Sing!

?Bartlett Sher's effervescent production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) returns to Town Hall Theater's big screen as part the Metropolitan Opera "Live in HD" series.

Tonight, October 31 at 8:00 p.m., Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in its first of four Carnegie Hall concerts this season in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The orchestra performs Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, 'Resurrection' with soprano Angela Meade, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir under the direction of Joe Miller.

The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD Series continues in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre at 1 pm on November 22nd with Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA.

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production 'Sleek, chic and colorful' when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: 'Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride.'

Opera Saratoga announces its 2015 Summer Festival season, which will run from July 2 - July 26, 2015 at multiple venues throughout Saratoga Springs, New York.

On Friday, October 31 at 8:00 p.m., Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in its first of four Carnegie Hall concerts this season in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The orchestra performs Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection" with soprano Angela Meade, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir under the direction of Joe Miller.

This fall, WQXR, New York City's classical music station and CARNEGIE HALL will once again bring concerts from the renowned concert hall to national and international audiences through live and recorded broadcasts and webcasts of 12 concerts from the 2014-15 season.

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production "Sleek, chic and colorful" when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: "Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride."

On Friday, November 21, the Metropolitan Opera Guild's 80th Annual Luncheon presents "Brava, Jessye!" to salute the legendary Jessye Norman, who recently wrote about her life in a memoir titled Stand Up Straight and Sing!

This fall, WQXR, New York City's classical music station and CARNEGIE HALL will once again bring concerts from the renowned concert hall to national and international audiences through live and recorded broadcasts and webcasts of 12 concerts from the 2014-15 season.

The Warner Theatre has announced its 2014-2015 MetOpera: Live in HD Season which will feature 10 operas, 9 of which will be streaming live from the Metropolitan Opera, and 1 encore performance.

Summer is just around the corner, and we are looking ahead in anticipation to the start of Carnegie Hall's 2014-2015 season! Listed below are classical music highlights at Carnegie Hall, including details on UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a three-week festival from October 10 to November 5, featuring an exciting array of events to be presented at Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City, inviting audiences to explore the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa.

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of judges has named five young singers the winners of the 2014 National Council Auditions, the nation's most prestigious vocal competition. Each winner, who performed two arias onstage at the Metropolitan Opera this afternoon with conductor Marco Armiliatoand the Met's orchestra, will receive a $15,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning a competition that has launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Following this afternoon's highly competitive semi-final competition, nine young singers will advance to the final phase of the Metropolitan Opera's 2014 National Council Auditions, America's most prestigious vocal competition. The selected finalists, chosen by a panel of experts from the classical music industry, will compete on the Met stage on Sunday, March 30at the Grand Finals Concert, with winners receiving individual cash prizes of $15,000 and the prestigious-and potentially career-launching-title of National Council Auditions Winner. The Grand Finals Concert begins at 3 p.m. and will feature Marco Armiliatoconducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as each finalist performs two arias in contrasting styles. The concert will be hosted by tenorLawrence Brownlee, a former National Council winner currently at the Met rehearsing for Bellini's I Puritani. While the judges deliberate, another former winner, Susanna Phillips, who stars in three operas at the Met this season, will perform an aria from Mozart'sLe Nozze di Figaro. Tickets for the Grand Finals Concert may be purchased at the Met Box Office, by phone at 212-362-6000, or online at www.metopera.org.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season will feature 26 operas, three of them company premieres, in six new productions and 18 revivals showcasing the talents of the world's leading singers, conductors, and theater artists. The three operas that will have their first-ever Met performances, each staged by a director making his Met debut, are John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, conducted by David Robertson and directed by Tom Morris, opening October 20; Rossini's La Donna del Lago, conducted by Michele Mariotti and directed by Paul Curran, opening February 16, 2015; and Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta, conducted by Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treli?ski. Iolanta will be presented in a double bill with a new staging of Bartok's one-act Duke Bluebeard's Castle, also conducted by Gergiev and directed by Treli?ski.

Tonight, November 17, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary tenor's birth with a star-studded gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Isabel Leonard, the 2013 Richard Tucker Award-winner and a rising star in the U.S. and abroad, joins an outstanding group of singers including Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Perez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette. With the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society led by Riccardo Frizza they will present a program of arias and ensembles by Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, Dvorak, Puccini and Offenbach. Following the concert, which is being taped for broadcast on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center on January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EST (check local listings), the foundation will host a gala dinner on the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall.