Russell Thomas News

San Francisco Opera’s Centennial Season culminates June 16, 2023, in a special concert and dinner honoring the Company’s illustrious 100-year history.

Award-winner Angel Blue started off the proceedings at the Richard Tucker Gala (after Barry Tucker’s usual introduction/ode to his father, the great tenor) with a bang: Puccini’s justly famous aria “Vissi d’arte” from TOSCA. For those of us who’ve only heard her as Bess in Gershwin’s PORGY & BESS at the Met, it was a revelation to hear her lush, velvety voice raise the rafters on the hall, with no warm up.

Last season, the company gave its first presentation of the French version (that’s the one called DON CARLOS, with a final S to his first name), in the five-act version that lasted almost 5 hours. This year, we’re back to Italian, under Carlo Rizzi’s firm baton, in one of a number of versions (this one running about 4 hours) of DON CARLO, which uses shortcuts to tell the story elements deleted with the excision of the first act (usually referred to as “the Fontainebleau scene”).

Internationally acclaimed American soprano Renée Fleming (1990 Richard Tucker Award Winner) and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel will join the Richard Tucker Music Foundation for its 2022 Gala on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 6:30pm at the new David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. This will mark Terfel’s first return to U.S. stages after a number of years performing primarily in Europe.

Verdi’s sweeping historical tragedy Don Carlo will return to the Metropolitan Opera for nine performances of the four-act Italian version November 3–December 3, 2022,  following the successful company premiere of the five-act French version last season.

Midsommer Flight will close its tenth year with its perennial holiday production of TWELFTH NIGHT, or WHAT YOU WILL. The comedy will again be performed in the Show House Room of the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Press opening is Friday, December 2, following a preview on Thursday, December 1. It will run through December 18.

Yulia Matochkina will make her Met role debut as Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo, replacing Anita Rachvelishvili. Russian mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina, who made her Met debut last season as Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, has previously sung Eboli at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and the New National Theatre in Tokyo.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents its annual Gala on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 6:30pm at the new David Geffen Hall's Wu Tsai Theater at Lincoln Center.

Lyric Opera of Chicago will kick off the Chicago cultural season with Verdi’s Ernani from September 9 to October 1, 2022.

Carlo Rizzi will return to The Metropolitan Opera to open the 2022/23 season, marking his 30th anniversary year with the Company.

Lyric Opera of Chicago will kick off the cultural season with a bang as Verdi’s Ernani takes the stage, with performances from September 9 to October 1, 2022. Written as Verdi was coming into his power as a composer, Ernani is a must-see operatic thrill ride full of grand-scale arias, explosive choral numbers, and unforgettable performances.

Cincinnati Opera concludes its 2022 Summer Festival July 21-31 with two powerful opera productions and one star-studded concert event.

Due to popular demand, The Story Theatre's Chicago premiere of  Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes is pleased to add one additional week of performances, extending through Sunday, July 24, 2022 on Raven Theatre's Schwartz Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago.

Celebrated tenor Russell Thomas has said that his casting as the first black man to play the lead in Otello at the Royal Opera House is no cause for celebration, according to The Times.

Russell Thomas, Christopher Maltman and Hrachuhi Bassénz excel in an emotional and relevant production of Verdi's adaptation of Shakespeare's masterful study of jealousy, ruthlessness and much more.

The Story Theatre will present the Chicago premiere of MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE MAGICAL NEGROES, written and directed by Chicago playwright and Governing Ensemble Member Terry Guest. This new play, which explores rebellion and Black liberation through the lens of the French Revolution, will play June 30 – July 17, 2022.

Los Angeles is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month.

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s recent Verdi Voices concert starring three of the world’s most accomplished Verdians — soprano Tamara Wilson, tenor Russell Thomas, and conductor and Lyric Opera of Chicago Music Director Enrique Mazzola — is now available digitally and can be streamed for free here starting today.

The Washington Chorus led by conductor and Artistic Director, Dr. Eugene Rogers has announced its 2022-2023 season. Featuring regional premieres and collaborations with regional arts organizations, the season kicks off on September 18th.

The MET Orchestra returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for the first time since June 2019, performing two concerts under the baton of Music Director and Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, both showcasing internationally acclaimed vocalists who have been featured on The Metropolitan Opera stage.