Simon Keenlyside News

Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Luca Salsi will sing the role of Rodrigo in this season's performances of Verdi's Don Carlo, replacing Simon Keenlyside, who has withdrawn from the run due to illness.

After a season's hiatus, the popular and critically-acclaimed Art of the Song series returns to Alice Tully with recitals by four luminous vocal artists.

Composer-conductor Thomas Ade?s will make his New York Philharmonic conducting debut leading the U.S. Premiere of his Totentanz, featuring mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and baritone Simon Keenlyside, both in their Philharmonic debuts; Beethoven's Symphony No. 1; and Berlioz's Les Francs-juges Overture, Thursday, March 12, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m.

After a season's hiatus, the popular and critically-acclaimed Art of the Song series returns to Alice Tully with recitals by four luminous vocal artists.

Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera this Today (Dec 11) to make his house role debut as Alfredo in La traviata, when he gives the first of five performances in Willy Decker's celebrated production. Costello has already sung Verdi's hero in high-profile productions on both sides of the Atlantic. This summer, his performances of the role at San Francisco Opera included a simulcast in the company's Opera in the Ballpark series, which was attended by an audience of more than 25,000 people.

OPERA NEWS Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll today announced the recipients of the 10th Annual Opera News Awards. This year's honorees—Piotr Beczala, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sondra Radvanosky, Samuel Ramey and Teresa Stratas—will be feted at a black tie gala celebration on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Previous Opera News Award Winners Martina Arroyo,Gerald Finley and Susan Graham are among the presenters.

Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera this Thursday (Dec 11) to make his house role debut as Alfredo in La traviata, when he gives the first of five performances in Willy Decker's celebrated production. Costello has already sung Verdi's hero in high-profile productions on both sides of the Atlantic. This summer, his performances of the role at San Francisco Opera included a simulcast in the company's Opera in the Ballpark series, which was attended by an audience of more than 25,000 people.

The Dallas Opera, in the latest installment of The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series, will present the phenomenal American tenor,Matthew Polenzani, in an exclusive, one-time-only recital on the afternoon of Sunday, January 11, 2015 at Southern Methodist University's popular Caruth Auditorium (an intimate 490-seat venue located in the Owen Arts Center, 6101 Bishop, Dallas, TX 75205). The two o'clock recital will also feature the exciting and accomplished playing of Mr. Polenzani's frequent recording partner, pianistJulius Drake.

JCC Manhattan launches the sixth season of PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, October 20th at 12:30pm.

A number of program changes and additions have been made to the performances, screenings, and events of Lincoln Center'sWhite Light Festival 2014 and Great Performers 2014-2015 series. See below!

A number of program changes and additions have been made to the performances, screenings, and events of Lincoln Center'sWhite Light Festival 2014 and Great Performers 2014-2015 series. See below!

This Monday morning sees Nicola Benedetti with an ensemble of her regular collaborators performing Brahms and Shostakovich in the first concert of BBC Radio 3's series of Festival 2014 live broadcasts.

Today, at a press conference in Edinburgh, Director Jonathan Mills revealed the artists, companies and work from around the world which will fill the stages of Edinburgh's annual cultural celebration. Over 2,400 artists from 43 nations have been invited to Edinburgh to perform in the annual showcase of the world's great performing artists.

Internationally Acclaimed Tenor, James Valenti will be making his triumphant return tothe Metropolitan Opera located at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City as he takes on the role of Lt. Pinkerton inPuccini's "Madama Butterfly" on April 4, 9, 12 and 15. Valenti has been praised by critics for having a voice of Italianate lustre and is part of the long-standing tradition of great Italian tenors. The sought after 6'5 tenor has built a global reputation for his elegant musicianship, commanding stage presence, ardent vocal style and striking good looks.

Today, at a press conference in Edinburgh, Director Jonathan Mills revealed the artists, companies and work from around the world which will fill the stages of Edinburgh's annual cultural celebration. Over 2,400 artists from 43 nations have been invited to Edinburgh to perform in the annual showcase of the world's great performing artists.

Internationally Acclaimed Tenor, James Valenti will be making his triumphant return tothe Metropolitan Opera located at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City as he takes on the role of Lt. Pinkerton inPuccini's “Madama Butterfly” on April 4, 9, 12 and 15. Valenti has been praised by critics for having a voice of Italianate lustre and is part of the long-standing tradition of great Italian tenors. The sought after 6'5 tenor has built a global reputation for his elegant musicianship, commanding stage presence, ardent vocal style and striking good looks.

The Scharoun Ensemble, a leading chamber music octet made up of members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, will play a program of Mozart, Dvorak and Beethoven on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Jorgensen. Glenn Stanley, a music historian in the UConn Music Department, will discuss musical points of interest at 6:45 p.m.

Ailyn Perez, winner of the Richard Tucker, Placido Domingo and Leonie Rysanek Awards, will make her Washington National Opera debut this March, stepping in for an indisposed colleague to star as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. This career milestone follows on the heels of the soprano's recent success at London's Royal Opera House, where she proved herself 'a must-hear' (Guardian) in the title role of Manon.

Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov – whom the Metropolitan Opera just announced will star in the title role of a new production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro for its 2014-15 season-opening gala – has earned a chorus of praise for his performance as the eponymous character in Dmitri Tcherniakov's new production of Prince Igor at the Met, which last staged Borodin's work nearly 100 years ago. In the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini enthused over Abdrazakov at length: “Solid and ruggedly handsome, Mr. Abdrazakov is a confident actor. Though his voice is firm and robust, he is not one of those formidable, gravelly Russian basses. He is a fine singer of Italian repertory, and his Igor has moments of Italianate lyrical refinement. He brings passion, even a touch of neediness, to his exchanges with his devoted wife, Yaroslavna. … Mr. Abdrazakov does his most burnished, powerful singing in the prince's despairing soliloquy [in Act II].” The New York Observer had a similar view: “Abdrazakov hurled his dark bass-baritone into Igor's soul-searching arias, the warm, lyrical tone suggesting the proud prince's underlying vulnerability.” WQXR likewise commended the bass's “sonorous” tone and Classical Review his “dramatic force.”

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.