Matthew Polenzani News

Beginning Wednesday, June 19, the Metropolitan Opera and NCM Fathom Events will once again present Summer HD Encores, a series of encore performances from the groundbreaking Live in HD series, in nearly 400 select U.S. cinemas nationwide

The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2013-2014, 75th anniversary season today, marking 75 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. Celebrity Series has a deep commitment to presenting vocal recitals by some of the most renowned singers in the genre, and the 2013-2014 season includes recitals by: soprano Deborah Voigt, baritone Gerald Finley, soprano Natalie Dessay, tenor Nicholas Phan and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Tenor Bryan Hymel has been named the recipient of the eighth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2013-14 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Most will introduce a Fall Festival, pairing symphonies by Beethoven and Shostakovich, and an all-Brahms weekend with two programs featuring Brahms's Violin Concerto and his Second and Fourth Symphonies. Mr. Welser-Most brings opera back to Severance Hall, with a semi-staged production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Radu Lupu, and conductors Christoph von Dohnanyi, Pierre Boulez, and Herbert Blomstedt. The Orchestra celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten with performances of his Spring Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Over three days of preliminary auditions today, February 25 through the 27th, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Over three days of preliminary auditions on February 25-27, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

The Met: Live in HD continues today, January 19 at 1pm with Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Warner Theatre in Torrington.

The Met: Live in HD continues on Saturday, January 19 at 1pm with Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Warner Theatre in Torrington.

There's usually not much in the way of fireworks in New York between New Year's and July 4th, but there certainly is no shortage of pyrotechnics in the Met's new Maria Stuarda, which is having its long-overdue premiere in the house. It brings us two sensational performances: American mezzo Joyce DiDonato in the title role, Mary Stuart (Maria), and South African soprano Elza van den Heever as Elizabeth I (Elisabetta).

Salvatore Cordella will make his Met debut as Leicester in this evening's performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, replacing Matthew Polenzani, who is ill.

The Metropolitan Opera presents MARIA STUARDA, now running through January 26, 2013. Approximate running time 2 hrs. 46 min. Mary Stuart (Joyce DiDonato) faces off with Elizabeth I (Elza van den Heever) in this clip from Donizetti's MARIA STUARDA, opening New Year's Eve! Check it out below!

Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance tonight, New Year's Eve.

Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance on New Year's Eve.