Stephen Costello News

In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis that is gripping the world--and keeping so many people in quarantine--the Metropolitan Opera managed to pull off a brilliantly executed music coup. It connected stars, chorus members and orchestral musicians in an “At-Home Gala”--a combination fund-raiser for the Met with wonderful entertainment. And the technology worked!

For all you lovelorn, “live opera”-lovers, the Met is coming to the rescue from COVID-19 this afternoon, Saturday April 25, at 1pm New York time, with a gala concert featuring over 40 artists performing direct from their homes around the world.

The Met has announced the Week 7 schedule for its Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure.

It's never going to compete with the thrill of being part of the audience at a one-of-a-kind live performance, but there are a great many possibilities for enjoying filmed live opera performances that can be streamed for free online these days. The most exciting presentation to date is the Metropolitan Opera's At-Home Gala featuring artists singing from their own homes, or where they find themselves, on Saturday, April 25 at 1:00 pm New York time.

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 main stage season comes to a close with Gioachino Rossini's classic comedy The Barber of Seville which opens on Saturday, April 25, 2020 at the San Diego Civic Theatre for four performances. Additional performances are April 28, May 1, and 3 (matinee), 2020.

Today, the Metropolitan Opera announced its 2020-21 season, the first in which Yannick Nézet-Séguin assumes his full breadth of musical duties as the company's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducting six productions. His schedule includes the Met premiere of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, the first contemporary opera conducted by the maestro on the Met stage, as part of his ongoing commitment to opera of our time at the Met, which will expand in the seasons to come.

Washington National Opera's (WNO) 2020-2021 season offers an ambitious mix of sweeping political epics and intimate stories of interpersonal relationships, centered on human pursuits of justice, power, and love. Led by General Director Timothy O'Leary and Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, WNO announces the six mainstage titles in the 2020-2021 season: Fidelio, Nixon in China, Boris Godunov, Rigoletto, Così fan tutte, and La bohème.

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 main stage season comes to a close with Gioachino Rossini's classic comedy The Barber of Seville which opens on Saturday, April 25, 2020 at the San Diego Civic Theatre for four performances.

The GRAMMY AWARDS Premiere Ceremony took place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 26, from 12:30-3:30 p.m. PT. Preceding the 62nd Annual GRAMMY AWARDS telecast, the Premiere Ceremony was hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner and current nominee Imogen Heap and featured a number of performances by current GRAMMY nominees. Performers included classical violinist Nicola Benedetti, jazz legend Chick Corea, folk music supergroup I'm With Her, West African sensation Angélique Kidjo and Best New Artist nominee Yola.

Recording Academy® President/CEO Deborah Dugan alongside Academy Chair of the Board of Trustees and renowned record producer Harvey Mason Jr., as well as GRAMMY Awards® host Alicia Keys and past two-time GRAMMY® nominee Bebe Rexha, today revealed nominees for the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in select categories. This year's nominees reflect a melting pot of artistic innovation that defined the year in music, showcasing the unparalleled craftsmanship of established artists and the industry-shifting impact of rising music creators. Leading nominees Lizzo (8), Billie Eilish (6) and Lil Nas X (6) not only topped the charts but ignited a cultural conversation around their genre-bending hits. As the only peer-selected music award, the GRAMMY Awards are voted on by the Recoding Academy's membership body of music makers, who represent all genres and creative disciplines, including recording artists, songwriters, producers, mixers and engineers.

It's hard to imagine the logistics in putting together a complex program like the one that the audience at Carnegie Hall was treated to on Sunday evening for the 2019 RICHARD TUCKER GALA. But New York-born conductor James Gaffigan pulled it off wonderfully with the help of members of the Met Orchestra and the New York Choral Society--and a gaggle of amazing singers, beginning with this year's winner of the Tucker Award, Lisette Oropesa.

Cincinnati Opera proudly presents world-renowned tenor Stephen Costello in a special concert event this fall.

The Academy of Vocal Arts' annual favorite vocal competition returns to the Kimmel Center this fall.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, the 2019 Richard Tucker Gala, on Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 6:00pm in Stern Auditorium Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

The 2019-20 season of events presented by the George London Foundation for Singers continues this legacy with two duo recitals featuring four George London Award winners, and the esteemed George London Foundation Competition.

Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, today announced a host of programs celebrating the company's upcoming 100th anniversary in 2020, along with repertoire and casting highlights of the 2020 Summer Festival.

MADAME BUTTERFLY is playing at New National Theatre, Tokyo from June 1 to 9, 2019.

Bryan Hymel has withdrawn from upcoming performances as the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, due to personal reasons.

American tenor Stephen Costello will sing the role of Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday, December 26, replacing Juan Diego Flórez, who is ill.

I interviewed Diana Damrau when she had just done her first Violetta, her role debut in the Met's old Willy Decker production. It was a part she lusted over from the time she saw the 1982 Zeffirelli film, but was careful about taking on--waiting for the right time in her vocal development. That was nearly six years ago and the good news is that she has developed into a first-rate Violetta, sounding better than she has in some time, and looking every inch the glamorous (yet consumptive) courtesan.