Mark Delavan News

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new production honoring the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi, one of opera's most legendary composers: The Force of Destiny, October 12-26 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Verdi's epic romantic and political drama, which hasn't been seen in Washington in nearly 25 years, will be presented in a daring and visually striking new production directed by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello. Conductor Xian Zhang, in her WNO debut, leads the WNO Orchestra in interpreting some of Verdi's most beautiful melodies.

The Atlanta Opera opens its 2013-2014 season with a production of Giacomo Puccini's dramatic tour de force, Tosca. Tosca will be presented on October 5, 8, 11 and 13 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be directed by new General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, who joined the Opera on June 1. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133 plus convenience and venue fees, can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling404-881-8885.

The Atlanta Opera opens its 2013-2014 season with a production of Giacomo Puccini's dramatic tour de force, Tosca. Tosca will be presented on October 5, 8, 11 and 13 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be directed by new General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, who joined the Opera on June 1. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133 plus convenience and venue fees, go on sale today, Sept. 5 at 10 a.m., and can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling 404-881-8885.

Riccardo Zandonai's masterpiece Francesca da Rimini, staged by the Met for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, August 18 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.) Check out the photos below!

The Atlanta Opera opens its 2013-2014 season with a production of Giacomo Puccini's dramatic tour de force, Tosca. Tosca will be presented on October 5, 8, 11 and 13 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be directed by new General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, who joined the Opera on June 1. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133 plus convenience and venue fees, go on sale Sept. 5 at 10 a.m., and can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling 404-881-8885. Season tickets are still available as well, offering patrons the best seats at the best prices.

To mark the bicentennial of Wagner's birth, Fabio Luisi launches three complete cycles of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Metropolitan Opera with an account of Das Rheingold on Saturday, April 6. It was with his leadership of the two last operas of Wagner's epic saga that Luisi, the Met's Principal Conductor, took home his first Grammy Award last month, when Deutsche Grammophon's DVD release of the full cycle, recorded live at the house, was named Best Opera Recording of 2012. Running through May 11, the upcoming performances - as on the award-winning recording - will feature Deborah Voigt's star turn as Brunnhilde in Robert Lepage's visionary, cutting-edge production.

The Metropolitan Opera will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Richard Wagner's birth with three complete performances of his epic four-opera masterwork, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Ring cycles will begin April 6 at 1 p.m. with Das Rheingold and continue through the last day of the Met season, May 11, with an 11 a.m. matinee of Gotterdammerung.

We all sat waiting anxiously for the curtain to rise on Riccardo Zandonai's 'Francesca da Rimini' after almost a 27 year hiatus on the Met stage; but with each passing act, one could sense the audience waiting for the closing curtain just as intently. Not to say that the performances or design weren't a wonder to behold. The opera and production as a whole just seemed a bit trivial in comparison. Despite the story however, the musical prowess of Zandonai's score, the meticulously detailed sets, and exquisite costuming gave Monday nights opening of 'Francesca da Rimini' redeeming beauty amid a insipid story.

Riccardo Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini will return to the Met March 4 for its first company performances since 1986.

The Atlanta Opera, one of the nation's finest regional opera companies enriching lives through the power of opera, yesterday announced its 2013-2014 season. The season opens with Tosca in October 2013, followed by Gounod's Faust in March 2014, and concludes with The Barber of Seville in April and May 2014. All performances will take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

The Atlanta Opera, one of the nation's finest regional opera companies enriching lives through the power of opera, today announced its 2013-2014 season. The season opens with Tosca in October 2013, followed by Gounod's Faust in March 2014, and concludes with The Barber of Seville in April and May 2014. All performances will take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

A genuine superstar of musical theatre, Elaine Paige is much loved on both sides of the Atlantic and here across the Pacific. As she prepares for a concert tour of Australia and New Zealand later this month, she took time out to share a little of her (legendary!) brain on musical theatre.

The Canadian Opera Company has closed another successful opera season with 2011/2012 recording an average attendance of 91%. A total of 125,238 patrons attended the 67 performances of the company's seven mainstage productions in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris, Verdi's Rigoletto, Puccini's Tosca, Saariaho's Love from Afar, Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, the double bill of Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and Handel's Semele.

Fresh from her appearances in Lehar's The Merry Widow at the Opera National de Paris and Berlioz's La mort de Cleopatre with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as a successful run of Australian recitals in Melbourne and Sydney, Susan Graham continues.

Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The company enjoys an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation.

Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The company enjoys an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation.

Met Opera Radio on Sirius XM (Channel 74) will present two special broadcasts the week of September 11, one to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the other in tribute to the tragic passing of tenor Salvatore Licitra.

Met Opera Radio on Sirius XM (Channel 74) will present two special broadcasts the week of September 11, one to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the other in tribute to the tragic passing of tenor Salvatore Licitra.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that 'The Ring of the Nibelung,' the beloved cycle of Richard Wagner operas, is coming back to San Francisco for the first time since 1999 at the War Memorial Opera House between May 29 and July 3.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that 'The Ring of the Nibelung,' the beloved cycle of Richard Wagner operas, is coming back to San Francisco for the first time since 1999 at the War Memorial Opera House between May 29 and July 3.