Richard Strauss News

The New York Philharmonic's Box Office opens today, August 8, 2017, for the 2017-18 season. Single tickets for all concerts and events are now available for purchase online at nyphil.org, by phone at (212) 875-5656, and in person at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. Curated, Matinee, Young People's Concerts, Very Young People's Concerts, and Create Your Own subscription series continue to be on sale.

San Francisco Opera announced today a cast change for Richard Strauss' Elektra, which opens on Saturday, September 9, in English director Keith Warner's new staging at the War Memorial Opera House. American mezzo-soprano Michaela Martens will sing the role of Klytemnestra, replacing mezzo-sopranoStephanie Blythe who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.

The full schedule of concert dates and programming for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's 2017 North American Tour were officially announced today by the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with the opening night set for Oct. 25 at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Colburn School Announces 2017–2018 Concerts and Events. Highlights include:

This month, playwright Joan Beber, will premiere her newest play DEAR JANE beginning tonight, July 18, at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre (410 W 42 Street) and will open on July 26 and run through August 26, 2017.

Have you ever dreamed of being on the War Memorial Opera House stage? San Francisco Opera is looking for adult supernumeraries (extras) to appear in the Company's upcoming Fall 2017 Season. An open audition will be held on Monday, July 31 beginning at 6 p.m. at the War Memorial Opera House. No previous experience is required and there is no fee to audition.

A few years ago I bought a recording of Schlagobers, which had been written by the venerable Richard Strauss for the Vienna State Opera Ballet in 1924. I had a difficult time listening to the music-it didn't gel, nor did it leave any imprint on my mind. I suppose there was a reason for it not having many recordings-compare this with Rosenkavalier. I remember doing some research on this project: Strauss was serving as co-director of the Vienna State Opera with Franz Schalk and wanted to raise the prestige of the ballet wing after it had been decimated in the First World War. As a devoted admirer of Diaghilev company, for which he had once written Josephslegende, Strauss went about composing and writing his own libretto for what was to become Schlagobers, choreographed by Heinrich Kröller, who devised a mass spectacle that required 287 costumes at a cost of four billion kronnen, becoming known as the 'billionaire's ballet.' And at a time when inflation was climbing minute by minute.

A panel of international judges awarded Yekwon Sunwoo, 28, of South Korea the Gold Medal at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Forth Worth, Texas last month. The top prize, which includes $50,000 and three years of career management, concert tours and recordings, is among the most coveted prize in the United States.

Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF), celebrating its 38th season as Cape Cod's premiere presenter of summer chamber music presents Strauss' Piano Quartet  featuring works by Strauss, Brahms and Enescu on Thursday, August 10, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, 650 Main Street, Chatham. 

Who needs an excuse to leave NYC in the blistering days of summer? It's especially true if you head north to some of the bucolic opera and vocal venues within driving distance.

With the launch of its 2017-18 season this fall, the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy (NWS), led by Co-Founder and Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), celebrates 30 years as the nation's most innovative training ground for the next generation of classical musicians, preparing its resident Fellows for professional careers through an experiential curriculum of hands-on training, live performance, and audience interaction.

Tenor Matthew Polenzani sings the title role of the King of Crete, with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of his noble son Idamante, soprano Elza van den Heever as Elettra, and soprano Nadine Sierra as Ilia.             

Single (non-subscription) tickets for San Francisco Opera's 2017 Fall Season at the War Memorial Opera House go on sale Monday, June 26, 2017, at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online at sfopera.com; in-person at the San Francisco Opera Box Office, located at 301 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco and open Mondays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and by phone at (415) 864-3330 during Box Office hours. Full and Half Series subscription packages are also available. Tickets for the three cycles of Wagner's Ring during the summer of 2018 are available as complete, four-opera cycles only.

Zu ihrem großen Bedauern musste Sarah Connolly ihren Auftritt am kommenden Montagnachmittag wegen eines Atemweginfektes absagen. Wir mochten uns herzlich bei Tara Erraught und James Baillieu bedanken, die sich bereit erklart haben, das Konzert kurzfristig zu ubernehmen.

Casting for the seventh and eighth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2017 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

At the end of every Season, the members of the creative collective known as Theatre Artists Studio put their muses to work and author, produce, direct, and act in a series of playlets. This year's installment of NEW SUMMER SHORTS, the company's 11th, includes a mix of eight 10-15 minute plays, each of which has something to satisfy one's theatrical palate. Some amusing, some inspiring, some provocative, some whimsical ~ all together, a satisfying potpourri.

This July, playwright Joan Beber, will premiere her newest play DEAR JANE beginning July 18 at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre (410 W 42 Street) and will open on July 26 and run through August 26, 2017.  DEAR JANE will be directed by Katrin Hilbe with choreography by Wendy Seyb.

The Canadian Opera Company opens its 2017/2018 season with Richard Strauss' Arabella. This lyric comedy stars world-renowned Canadian sopranos, Erin Wall and Jane Archibald, as two sisters navigating their way through the changing society of turn-of-the-century Vienna.

John Bell AO OBE, founder of Bell Shakespeare Company and Helpmann Award winner, partners with internationally acclaimed ARIA-nominated pianist Simon Tedeschi to present a deeply moving performance of Lord Alfred Tennyson's classic 1864 poem Enoch Arden, set to music by German composer Richard Strauss in Space Theatre on Saturday 15 July.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.