Judging by the number of small opera companies in New York alone--see the 2019 New York Opera Fest that starts performances next month--there's no shortage of up and coming opera singers trying to make their way on the scene. But there's no showcase like the Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions to give a singer a leg up--and this year's group of talented performers seemed to give us more hope than usual that all's right with the world…at least when it comes to opera.
Mozart's opera of ancient Rome, La Clemenza di Tito, returns to the Met starring Matthew Polenzani in the title role of the Roman emperor Tito, with Elza van den Heever as the vengeful Vitellia, who plots his assassination. Joyce DiDonato sings the trouser role of Sesto, Tito's most devoted friend, who is also in love with Vitellia. The trio of leading artists is reunited at the Met after their acclaimed performances together in the company's new production of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda in 2013. Emily D'Angelo and Ying Fang sing the roles of the lovers Annio and Servilia, Sesto's friend and sister, respectively, and Christian Van Horn portrays the captain of the Praetorian Guard, Publio. Lothar Koenigs conducts all six performances of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1984 staging, which runs March 30 through April 20, 2019.
The Savannah VOICE Festival (SVF) will celebrate the beauty of the changing seasons with fabulous Spring events. On March 11, SVF returns to the Davenport House Museum (DHM) for the third in its series of seasonal events.
The 2018-2019 Renee Fleming VOICES series continues withJamie Barton on Saturday, March 23, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. in the Terrace Theater. Accompanied by pianist Kathleen Kelly, Barton's one-night-only recital will feature classics from Haydn, Strauss, and Ravel while showcasing the voices of women, including works by composers Nadia and Lili Boulanger and Americans Elinor Remick Warren and Amy Beach. Barton's performance also features Love After 1950, a contemporary song cycle by Libby Larsen that uses offbeat vocal styles like blues, tango, and honky-tonk to evoke different moods. Tickets for this program are $49-$69.
Falstaff, Verdi's exuberant final opera, returns to the Met for performances February 22-March 16, 2019. Robert Carsen's acclaimed production moves the action from Shakespeare's era to 1950s England. Fresh off his much-lauded performance as Michonnet in the Met's Adriana Lecouvreur, Ambrogio Maestri stars as the notorious glutton Falstaff, reprising his celebrated betrayal in this production's premiere run in the 2013-14 season. The ensemble cast of merry wives and noblemen also includes Ailyn Perez as Alice Ford, Golda Schultz as Nannetta, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, Francesco Demuro as Fenton, and Juan Jesus Rodriguez as Ford. Conductor Richard Farnes, the former longtime music director of Opera North, makes his Met debut on the podium.
Beginning June 5 and continuing through the 29th, San Francisco Opera presents a trio of extraordinary lyric works Georges Bizet's Carmen, George Frideric Handel's Orlando and Anton n Dvo k's Rusalka featuring powerful leading women in the title roles. Spanning three centuries and sung in French, Italian and Czech, the 2019 Summer Season repertory will occasion the Company debuts of four conductors, including two women, in productions that are new to the War Memorial Opera House stage. Some casting updates for the repertory were announced today and additional casting of supporting roles will be released at a future date.
Michael Mayer's 2013 production of Verdi's Rigoletto, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, returns to the Met on February 12, with conductor Nicola Luisotti leading an all-star cast. Initial performances star Nadine Sierra as Gilda, Vittorio Grigolo as the Duke, Roberto Frontali as Rigoletto, Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile, and Ramona Zaharia in her Met debut as Maddalena. In later performances, Rosa Feola makes her Met debut as Gilda, Bryan Hymel sings the Duke for the first time at the Met, George Gagnidze returns as Rigoletto, and Dimitry Ivashchenko reprises his portrayal of Sparafucile.
San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced repertory and casting for the Company's 97th Season, opening Friday, September 6, 2019, with a gala performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet (Rom o et Juliette) starring tenor Bryan Hymel and soprano Nadine Sierra in Op ra de Monte-Carlo Director Jean-Louis Grinda's production. In keeping with the Company's time-honored tradition, the new season will be inaugurated with San Francisco Opera Guild's elegant, signature benefit and celebration, Opera Ball 2019.
This winter, The Atlanta Opera presents the company premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's Dead Man Walking in an original production "of the very highest level" (Opera News) from General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun. Georgia native Jamie Barton - winner of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition - makes her eagerly anticipated role debut as Sister Helen Prejean, and Michael Mayes reprises the iconic portrayal of condemned murderer Joseph De Rocher that the composer himself has called "definitive," anchoring an all-star cast that also features Maria Zifchak, Wayne Tigges, Kevin Burdette, and Jay Hunter Morris. Marking the second presentation in Atlanta's mainstage season, the opera will be mounted in four performances led by Kentucky Opera principal conductor Joseph Mechavich at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (Feb 2-10).
This New Year's Eve, Live From Lincoln Center rings in 2019 by celebrating the beautiful intersection of classical music, popular musical theater, and dance. Marking the beginning of Lincoln Center's 60th anniversary celebration, Grammy winner and beloved soprano Renee Fleming performs as soloist alongside the New York Philharmonic, led by new Music Director Jaap van Zweden in his Live From Lincoln Center debut. Tony winner and Grammy and Emmy nominee Kelli O'Hara guest hosts the broadcast, airing live on PBS Monday, December 31 at 9:00 pm*.
Tenor Javier Camarena--who completes his run as Nadir, the love-struck tenor lead in Bizet's LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (THE PEARL FISHERS) this Saturday--isn't finished wow-ing Met audiences for the season. Not by a long shot. He's back in February to throw off those nine High Cs in “Ah, mes amis!” the show-stopping aria--that toast to love and camaraderie--in Donizetti's LA FILLE DU REGIMENT (DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT) that Luciano Pavarotti made famous for modern opera audiences.
Bard College announces the appointment of celebrated opera singer and recitalist Stephanie Blythe as artistic director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music Graduate Vocal Arts Program (VAP) beginning in July 2019. One of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists of her generation, mezzo-soprano Blythe possesses a repertoire ranging from Handel to Wagner and from German lieder to contemporary and classic American song. Blythe has performed on many of the world's great stages, such as Carnegie Hall; the Metropolitan Opera; Covent Garden; Paris National Opera; and San Francisco, Chicago Lyric, and Seattle Operas. She was named Musical America's Vocalist of the Year, received an Opera News Award, and won the Richard Tucker Award. Blythe recently released her first crossover recording on the Innova label with pianist Craig Terry.
I caught up with rising star bass-baritone Christian Van Horn the other day, to find out what the devil was going on with his starring role in the Met's first performance of Arrigo Boito's MEFISTOFELE in almost 20 years. Were you nervous as hell (pun intended) on the first night, I asked Van Horn, winner of this year's prestigious Richard Tucker Award, in your role as the Devil?
The New York Choral Society (NYCHORAL) will join forces with the Angel Band Project's One Voice Virtual Choir on Monday, November 19, 2018, to perform Ruth Moody's One Voice as part of the opening for the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. NYCHORAL members led by Associate Conductor Michael Ciavaglia will sing alongside sexual violence survivors as well as the Angel Band Project's virtual choir. The opening will take place in the United Nations Trusteeship Council Chambers (on 1st Avenue between E. 42nd and E. 43rd Streets) from 10 am to 12:30 pm, with the performance slotted for 11:05 am.
The Met is offering Robert Carsen's 1999 production of Arrigo Boito's MEFISTOFELE to show us what bass-baritone Christian Van Horn--winner of this year's Richard Tucker Award--could do in his first starring role at the house and the answer was: plenty.
Tony Lo Bianco, Lee Roy Reams and Steven Maglio headlined a special Veterans Day concert celebrating members of the armed forces and their families yesterday at The Triad, 158 West 72nd Street. BroadwayWorld was there and you can check out photos below!
Tony Lo Bianco, Lee Roy Reams and Steven Maglio headline a special Veterans Day concert celebrating members of the armed forces and their families at The Triad, 158 West 72nd Street, today November 10 at 3pm. Hosted by co-producer Randie Levine-Miller, "Galaxy of Stars" will donate 100% of its proceeds to the Vetwell Project of Operation Warrior Shield, whose primary mission is to provide support programs for veterans and first responders focusing on "healing the hidden wounds of war." For tickets call 212-279-4200 or visit www.triadnyc.com
Tony Lo Bianco, Lee Roy Reams and Steven Maglio headline a special Veterans Day concert celebrating members of the armed forces and their families at The Triad, 158 West 72nd Street, on Saturday November 10 at 3pm.
San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the 12 recipients of the 2019 Adler Fellowship. Selected from participants of the Merola Opera Program, the ten singers and two pianist/apprentice coaches begin their fellowships in January 2019. The multi-year performance-oriented residency offers advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Since its inception in 1977, the prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 180 young artists, introducing many budding stars to the international opera stage and launching active careers throughout the world as performers, production artists, arts professionals and educators.
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