Rene Pape News

There used to be an ad campaign from a New York bakery company, “You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's rye bread.” Well, a similar statement could be made about Richard Wagner's final opera (or as he called it, a büenenweihfestspiel , or “a festival play for the consecration of the stage”): You don't have to be Christian to love PARSIFAL, with its themes of redemption, honor and loyalty. It is a unique experience, regardless of one's faith, because the music's the thing. And I'd follow the cast, orchestra and chorus of the Metropolitan Opera's new production anywhere. Heard at the opera's second performance of the season, February 18, they were superb.

The new production of PARSIFAL opens in just 2 days! Jonas Kaufmann stars alongside Katarina Dalayman, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and Rene Pape. Daniele Gatti conducts. Check out a sneak peek of Francois Girard's new production below!

Jonas Kaufmann will sing the title role in a new staging of Wagner's final opera, Parsifal,conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Francois Girard in his Met debut. The new production of Wagner's transcendent masterpiece will open February 15 with an extraordinary cast of Wagnerian stars, including Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry; Peter Mattei in his role debut as Amfortas, the wounded King of the Knights of the Holy Grail; Rene Pape as the wise knight Gurnemanz; Evgeny Nikitin as the evil Klingsor; and Runi Brattaberg in his Met debut as Titurel, Amfortas's father. The production team for Girard's staging includes set designer Michael Levine, costume designer Thibault Vancraenenbroeck, lighting designer David Finn, video designer Peter Flaherty, choreographer Carolyn Choa, and dramaturg Serge Lamothe. The Saturday, March 2 matinee performance of Parsifal will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 1,900 movie theaters in 64 countries around the world.

I missed the debut and broadcast of Andre Previn's operatic setting of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" from the San Francisco Opera back in 1998. But I can't say that anything I've read would compel me choose it over a couple of hours with Brando and Leigh on TCM or even a less than stellar [Stella?] production of the play. The fact is, how can Previn's score compare with the music of Williams?

Already in this young season, Rene Pape has given a star turn as Philip II in Verdi's Don Carlos at the Vienna State Opera and made his recital debut at La Scala in Milan. The German singer - "the world's most charismatic bass," according to Opera News - is currently reprising his acclaimed Wotan at the Berlin State Opera in a production of Die Walkure conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Rene Pape will travel to Germany to reprise his acclaimed Wotan at the Berlin State Opera, in a production of Wagner's Die Walkure conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Oct 4-14). For concerts celebrating the centennial of Sir Georg Solti's birth, the singer joins conductor Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace at Carnegie Hall (Oct 19) and in Chicago (Oct 21). Pape returns to La Scala--where he just made his recital debut on Sunday, September 16--in December to open its opera season, portraying King Heinrich in Wagner's Lohengrin, together with his friend Jonas Kaufmann and frequent musical partner Daniel Barenboim (Dec 7-17). On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Pape re-joins Barenboim for performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the Staatskapelle Berlin. And in 2013, to help mark the bicentennial of Wagner's birth, Pape sings his signature Gurnemanz in the new Francois Girard production of Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Daniele Gatti (Feb 15-March 8).

Rene Pape will travel to Germany to reprise his acclaimed Wotan at the Berlin State Opera, in a production of Wagner's Die Walkure conducted by Daniel Barenboim (Oct 4-14). For concerts celebrating the centennial of Sir Georg Solti's birth, the singer joins conductor Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace at Carnegie Hall (Oct 19) and in Chicago (Oct 21). Pape returns to La Scala--where he just made his recital debut on Sunday, September 16--in December to open its opera season, portraying King Heinrich in Wagner's Lohengrin, together with his friend Jonas Kaufmann and frequent musical partner Daniel Barenboim (Dec 7-17). On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Pape re-joins Barenboim for performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the Staatskapelle Berlin. And in 2013, to help mark the bicentennial of Wagner's birth, Pape sings his signature Gurnemanz in the new Francois Girard production of Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Daniele Gatti (Feb 15-March 8).

The Met's popular Summer HD Festival returns for its fourth year on August 25, with ten free outdoor screenings of acclaimed performances from the Met's award-winning Live in HD series. The festival, which more than 40,000 people attended last year, kicks off with a screening of the Met's recent world premiere hit The Enchanted Island, a Baroque pastiche which stars David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, and Placido Domingo.

Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and Rene Pape in New Production of Gounod's Faust on THIRTEEN's Great Performances at the Met, today, May 13 at 12 p.m. on PBS stations, with director Des McAnuff in his Met debut, with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting the classic opera for the first time at the Met, Three of the opera world's leading stars-Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and Rene Pape-sing the principal roles in a new production of Gounod's Faust, directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff in his Met debut. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts his first Met performances of the opera, which airs on THIRTEEN's Great Performances at the Met Sunday, May 13 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN premiered the program Thursday, May 10 at 8:30 p.m. with an encore presentation today, May 13 at 12:30 p.m.

After performances in Franz Schmidt's oratorio The Book With Seven Seals under Fabio Luisi in Vienna (May 13-14), Rene Pape will sing in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under Daniel Barenboim at Milan's La Scala, in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI (June 1).

Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and Rene Pape in New Production of Gounod's Faust on THIRTEEN's Great Performances at the Met, Sunday, May 13 at 12 p.m. on PBS stations, with director Des McAnuff in his Met debut, with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting the classic opera for the first time at the Met, Three of the opera world's leading stars-Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and Rene Pape-sing the principal roles in a new production of Gounod's Faust, directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff in his Met debut. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts his first Met performances of the opera, which airs on THIRTEEN's Great Performances at the Met Sunday, May 13 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN will premiere the program Thursday, May 10 at 8:30 p.m. with an encore presentation Sunday, May 13 at 12:30 p.m.

The screening will be Gounod's classic retelling of the Faust legend, with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, Rene Pape as the devil, and Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite.

The screening will be Gounod's classic retelling of the Faust legend, with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, Rene Pape as the devil, and Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite.

Once again, Rene Pape is earning universal acclaim for his Mephistopheles in Faust, this time in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Gounod's opera that runs to January 19.

Once again, Rene Pape is earning universal acclaim for his Mephistopheles in Faust, this time in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Gounod's opera that runs to January 19.

On this Sunday, April 17, Rene Pape makes his role debut as Wotan in Wagner's Die Walkure at the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.

On this Sunday, April 17, Rene Pape makes his role debut as Wotan in Wagner's Die Walkure at the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.

Beginning on June 4, 2011, with Placido Domingo in concert, and with such renowned artists as James Taylor, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones and the London Symphony Orchestra to follow, the new BlackCreek Summer Music Festival will launch its inaugural season at the Rexall Centre on the grounds of York University in Toronto.

Beginning on June 4, 2011, with Placido Domingo in concert, and with such renowned artists as James Taylor, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones and the London Symphony Orchestra to follow, the new BlackCreek Summer Music Festival will launch its inaugural season at the Rexall Centre on the grounds of York University in Toronto.

On Wednesday, October 27, the Metropolitan Opera Guild presents the second installment of its exciting new series: 'The Met Mastersingers'.