Renée Fleming's long and distinguished career includes performing in some of the world's most famous opera houses, performing on Broadway, and being heard on many recordings singing everything from arias to showtunes.
Tonight Ms. Fleming will add another honor to her canon as she and Vanessa Williams will become the first artists to perform a live indoor concert onstage at Kennedy Center's Opera House. The evening is entitled A Time to Sing: An Evening with Renée Fleming and Vanessa Williams. While the audience will be very minimal in person, you can watch the concert in your very own living room by purchasing a ticket for the livestream. Click here for details.
The Metropolitan Opera presents Leontyne Price at the Met, a 2-CD collection that features 34 live recordings highlighting soprano Leontyne Price's great Met performances. The collection is available for purchase beginning September 18, 2020,
It's hardly a secret that during the Met's shutdown, the company has been treating audiences with nightly telecasts of everything from the company's current 'Live In HD' series to some scratchy videos that still had decent sound. All of them, however, can also be found on the Met's online subscription series, THE MET OPERA ON DEMAND, along with some audio highlights of extraordinary Saturday afternoon broadcasts. It's worth shelling out the money for this kind of quality.
Though the reach of Gershwin's classic tunes has proved vast, no other song from his canon has quite matched the monumental success of Porgy and Bess' opening aria, 'Summertime.'
In honor of Juneteenth, WQXR is devoting the entire day to spotlighting the work of Black composers and performers from around the globe with an all-day tribute a?oeMusic for Juneteenth: A Celebration of Black Classical Artistry.a??
The Met has announced the Weeks 13 and 14 schedules for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, which feature the Met's acclaimed productions of Philip Glass's Akhnaten and Satyagraha, both available to the public for the first time on the Met's streaming platforms.
Now that the Metropolitan Opera has had a major success with its At-Home Gala, there are other opera companies with similar ideas. The Florence May Festival, (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), will offer its presentation on Friday, May 1, 2020, at noon. P.D.T. Since many opera lovers are working from home, the audience should be enormous.
The Met has announced the Week 7 schedule for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure.
The Met on Demand had another week of exciting performances, from the divine [Rossini's IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA] to the, well, the divine [Adams's NIXON IN CHINA].
Soprano Cheryl Warfield will present 'Dynamic Divas II: Stories of African-American Sopranos Who Inspire and Enrich,' on Sunday, March 29th at 4 PM at Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway at West 93rd Street on the Upper West Side. The opera concert pays homage to legendary prima donna assolutta Leontyne Price and is the second in a series of lecture recital programs focusing on the artistic and trailblazing contributions of Black opera singers. Cheryl is a New York City based opera singer, educator, and concert producer who has performed over 15 lead operatic roles in New York and throughout Europe. She will be accompanied by concert pianist Olga Gurevich.
Saturday night, I heard soprano Lisette Oropesa deliver an alternatingly delicious and desperately dramatic Violetta in Verdi's LA TRAVIATA at the Met. Less than a day later, she was the emcee at the GRAND FINALS CONCERT of the Met's National Council Auditions--where she was a winner herself in 2005 and “it changed my life,” she recalled--delivering the latest batch of opera babies into the big time.
Today's subject Marva Hicks is currently living her theatre life onstage at Signature Theatre in the World Premiere Musical Gun & Powder. The production runs through February 23rd in Signature's MAX Theatre space. You'll be able to see my review of the show on Broadway World soon. Trust me it will be worth the wait.
The 50-member Dessoff Choirs continues its 95th season with a program dedicated to two of choral music's most influential composers, Britain's John Rutter and American Gregg Smith. Accompanied by pianist Steven Ryan, Dessoff performs two unforgettable choral gems: Rutter's The Sprig of Thyme, a collection of charming British folk songs for chorus, and Smith's The Continental Harmonist along with spirituals by Florence Price and Margaret Bonds sung by Dessoff's maestro, Malcolm J. Merriweather.
The powerhouse singer that she is, Ledisi takes on the songs of legendary Nina Simone, honors them and makes them uniquely her own in LEDISI: THE LEGEND OF LITTLE GIRL BLUE (A MUSICAL JOURNEY INTO THE LIVES OF NINA SIMONE AND LEDISI), opening at The Wallis December 13, 2019. Transcending a wide range of musical genres, Ledisi will take you on her own path of musical discoveries, while describing the influence Ms. Nina Simone has made on her. Ledisi ever so graciously blocked open some time to answer a few of my tuneful queries.
Cincinnati Opera proudly presents This Little Light of Mine, performed by Emmy Award-winning soprano Adrienne Danrich on Sunday, November 17 at 4:00 p.m. at College Hill Presbyterian Church.
An interview with Josey Montana McCoy (Huck Finn) and David Aron Damane (Jim), stars of Rubicon Theatre Company's current production of 'Big River.' The immersive, atmospheric production has been critically acclaimed by press and audiences alike and has been extended for an additional week, until November 17.
