Maestro Antony Walker News

Poulenc's music is almost hard to believe; romantic without sweetness, contemporary without alienating, and among the extraordinary composers repertoire this epic opera stands out as a remarkable achievement, and this season Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello has designed a beautiful production to accompany it. That and some of the most impressive vocal power on display anywhere in the city makes the Kennedy Center's latest operatic offering an absolute joy to the senses.

Having completed their presentation of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in September, Washington Concert Opera gears up for its second performance of the season, the rarely performed opera, Guntram, by Richard Strauss. In his 13th season with Washington Concert Opera, Artistic Director and Conductor, Maestro Antony Walker, takes the stage for this highly ambitious presentation. The performance will be presented March 1, 2015 at 6pm on the Lisner Stage at George Washington University.

I Capuleti e i Montecchi, the two act Italian opera by Vincenzo Bellini, is a delightful and tragic retelling fn those famous Shakespearean star-crossed lovers. Although the libretto (by Felice Romani) is based not on the original Shakespeare, but a combination of Italian adaptations, most notably the 1530 novella Giulietta e Romeo by Luigi Di Porto and the subsequent play by Luigi Scevola, and to a lesser degree the forgotten Nicola Vaccai opera.