Piotr Beczala News

Otello. Aida. Don Carlo. The comparisons are irresistible.

Gracious, charming, highly intelligent and perceptive, Polish-born artist Piotr Beczala (dubbed 'Piotr the Great' in San Francisco), first graced the San Diego Opera stage in his 2010 Boheme debut, triumphed these past weeks in Verdi's A Masked Ball, and will complete his 'March madness' with Verdi's monumental Requiem. Acclaimed for both the beauty of his voice and for his ardent commitment to each character he portrays, he is also an avid golfer, and loves being here in San Diego.

What theatre are you watching this weekend in San Diego?

A Wagner-loving cat and a childhood listening to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts influenced Lesley Koenig's eventual plunge into the world of opera.

Paul Nadler will conduct tonight's performance of Dvorák's Rusalka, replacing the originally scheduled Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Nézet-Séguin will conduct the other five performances of Rusalka at the Met this season.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 65 countries around the world, will feature ten operas in the 2014-15 season, including all six new productions in the Met season. All ten performances, transmitted live from the Met stage, will feature the world's finest singers, conductors, and theatrical artists.

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.

Paul Nadler will conduct this evening's performance of Dvorák's Rusalka, replacing Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is ill. As previously announced, Nadler will also conduct the opera's final performance this season on February 15.

The Met: Live in HD continues today, February 8 at 1pm in the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre with Dvorak's Rusalka.

He was the dashing yet fickle prince in the Met's HD Live broadcast of Dvorak's RUSALKA and the womanizing Duke who concluded that “La donna e mobile” (“Woman is fickle”) in last year's “Ratpack” RIGOLETTO at the Met as well. Yet, Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is true-blue--to musical style.

Mary Phillips will sing the role of Ježibaba in this evening's performance of Dvorák's Rusalka, replacing Dolora Zajick, who is ill.

Three Live in HD events from the Met and National Theatre in London will fill The Ridgefield Playhouse next month. Diva Renee Fleming will star in Dvo?ak's Rusalka on Sunday, February 9, at 12:55 p.m. Shakespeare's Coriolanus comes to life on Sunday, February 16, at 6:30 p.m., and Borodin's Prince Igor will mesmerize on Saturday, March 1, at 12 noon. For dinner-and-a-show, Bernard's (22 West Lane, Ridgefield) is offering a special $45 prix-fixe menu, or a free glass of wine with dinner before these events, when tickets are presented; reservations suggested beginning at 5 p.m. Visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org for video sneak previews of the Met Live in HD Series. This event is underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Anita and Nicholas Donofrio, Liz and Steven Goldstone, Marilyn and Joe Kreitz, Joanne and John Patrick, Starbucks Coffee, Sabina and Walter Slavin, Taylor Zemo Foundation, The Ridgefield Press and Whistle Stop Bakery.

The Met: Live in HD continues on Saturday February 8 at 1pm in the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre with Dvorak's Rusalka.

Renée Fleming returns to one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvorák's Rusalka, for six performances beginning January 23. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of the opera about a water spirit in love with a human prince, adapted from the same sources as Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale 'The Little Mermaid.' Check out highlights below!

Diva Renee Fleming will star in Dvorak's Rusalka Live in HD from the Met on Sunday, February 9, at 12:55 p.m. One of the most celebrated divas of our time, Renee Fleming returns to one of her signature roles, singing the enchanting 'Song to the Moon' in Dvorak's soulful fairy-tale opera Rusalka. Tenor Piotr Beczala co-stars as the Prince, Dolora Zajick is Ježibaba and dynamic young maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin is on the podium.

Renée Fleming will return to one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvorák's Rusalka, for six performances beginning tonight, January 23.

There was a lovefest for the great mezzo Marilyn Horne in New York last week, filled with the music of friends, acquaintances and admirers at Carnegie Hall's sibling, Zankel Hall.

The jury's in! Attending a Live in HD broadcast of an opera direct from the Met at The Ridgefield Playhouse is convenient, comfortable and so affordable. Dvorak's Rusalka stars the great Renee Fleming (pictured) on Sunday, February 9, at 12:55 p.m.

Carnegie Hall has announced its January 2014 calendar updates. Details below!