The Lyric Opera of Chicago News

The Metropolitan Opera and SummerStage continue their long-time collaboration to present some of The Met's finest young singers in showcase recitals taking place across New York City.

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) announces its 73rd continuous season of grand opera featuring an innovative new vision with provocative repertoire under the direction of General Director and CEO Susan T. Danis. In addition to a wealth of exciting artists making their debuts with the company, the 2013-2014 season features: the Southeast American premiere of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra followed by Verdi's Nabucco, Puccini's Tosca, and Massenet's Thaïs.

A champion of contemporary opera, internationally acclaimed soprano and stage director Catherine Malfitano has sung in the world premieres of Carlisle Floyd's Bilby's Doll, Conrad Susa's Transformations, Thomas Pasatieri's Washington Square and The Seagull and William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge, McTeague, A Wedding, and Medusa.

Located on the shores of Lake Michigan and the Green Bay waters is one of the most beautiful communities in the Midwest - Door County, Wisconsin. The Door Peninsula is a place with picturesque views overlooking the second largest of the Great Lakes. Offering over 300 miles of scenic shoreline, it is a haven for boating, camping, and enjoying the rich tapestry of colorful foliage.

Actor/sword fighters Jacqueline Ann Holloway and Robert Westley will be joining NYCB dancers Jared Angle and Megan LeCrone and members of the Sebastians Chamber Orchestra for On Point: From Duel to Pas de Deux, to be presented by Salon/Sanctuary Concerts. An exploration of the shared origins of sword fighting and ballet, On Point will be presented on Monday June 3rd at The Liederkranz Club at 7:00PM. Musical selections will include Heinrich Ignaz von Biber (1644 - 1704)Battaglia a 10 in D Major; Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1620 - 1680) Balletto for Strings and Continuo in G 'Die Fechtschule' and GF Handel (1685 - 1759), Sonata in B-flat, Op. 2, No. 3, HWV 388.

Ghostlight Records will release the Original Cast Recording of the acclaimed epic musical GIANTonline and in stores on May 21, 2013. Performance rights for GIANT will be licensed through R&H Theatricals, a division of Rodgers & Hammerstein, an Imagem Company. Applications for performance are not yet being accepted and will be announced at a later date. In the meantime all inquiries should be directed to Theatre@rnh.com. For more information please visit http://www.rnh.com/show/335/GIANT.

Dialogues des Carmelites, Poulenc's opera about a group of nuns whose faith is tested under the Terror of the French Revolution, will return to the Met repertory on May 4 for the first time since 2002. In role debuts, Isabel Leonard will sing the naive aristocrat Blanche de la Force and Patricia Racette will sing Madame Lidoine, the imposing Prioress of a Carmelite convent. Felicity Palmer will reprise her portrayal of the ailing Madame de Croissy, a role she sang to acclaim in the most recent Met revival of the opera. Louis Langree conducts his first Met performances of the work, with a cast that also includes Elizabeth Bishop as Mother Marie, Erin Morley as Sister Constance, and Paul Appleby as Blanche's brother, the Chevalier de la Force. The opera will be presented in John Dexter's acclaimed 1977 Met premiere production.

The New York Choral Society (NYCS) announced today that award-winning stage and screen star Kathleen Turner will introduce Ralph Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony at Carnegie Hall on April 25 with a reading of the moving and evocative text written by the American poet Walt Whitman.

Internationally recognized for its adventurous opera and classical music programming, Spoleto Festival USA offers an eclectic program of music and opera for its 37th season. In addition to the American premiere of Matsukaze-the first of Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa's operas to be produced in the United States-the program includes American premiere performances of P?teris Vasks' Credo and Pierre Boulez's arrangement of Ravel's Frontispice. Also to be performed are a double-bill of rarely performed Italian operas, Puccini's Le Villi and Giordano's Mese Mariano, and Verdi's Messa da Requiem conducted by Joseph Flummerfelt in his farewell appearance as Spoleto's Artistic Director for Choral Activities.

Danielle de Niese will sing the role of Cleopatra in this evening's performance of Handel's Giulio Cesare, replacing Natalie Dessay, who is ill.

David Daniels and Natalie Dessay will sing the leading roles of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra inDavid McVicar's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare, which premieres at the Met April 4. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket will lead ten performances of the popular staging, originally produced at the Glyndebourne Festival, which incorporates many innovative elements into the story of Caesar and Cleopatra's unlikely romance-including extensive choreography by Andrew George. The other principal stars of this production include Alice Coote in the trouser role of the Roman youth Sesto, Italian baritone Guido Loconsolo in his Met debut as the scheming Egyptian general Achilla, John Moore as the Roman general Curio, and three stars of McVicar's original Glyndebourne Festival production: Patricia Bardon as the Roman widow Cornelia, Sesto's stepmother; Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo, Cleopatra's brother and co-ruler; and Moroccan countertenor Rachid Ben Abdeslam in his Met debut as the Egyptian servant Nireno. The production features set design by Robert Jones, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, and lighting design by Paule Constable. The Saturday, April 27 matinee performance of Giulio Cesare will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 1,900 movie theaters in 64 countries around the world.

Houston Grand Opera's 41st World Premiere Opera CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA/TO CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON premiered in the Brown Theater at the Wortham Center on November 13, 2012. The performance played in front of 2,400 patrons, the largest-ever audience in the Brown Theater. Following that rousing premiere, CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA and its original cast opened the 2011 season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The production ran for six performances. Upon arriving in Paris, 80% of the tickets were already sold, and word of mouth lead to complete sell outs for the final three performances. Last night, the gorgeous and stirring CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA opened in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater again, earning thunderous applause and sincere admiration from the audience.

Piotr Beczala will sing the title role in Gounod's Faust for the first time at the Met beginning tonight, March 21, opposite Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite, a role she sang in the 2011 premiere of Des McAnuff's production. Alain Altinoglu, who led Faust at the Met last season, returns to conduct the opera, which also stars John Relyea as the diabolical Mephistopheles, Alexey Markov as Valentin, and Julie Boulianne as Siebel.

The New York Choral Society (NYCS) announced today that award-winning stage and screen star Kathleen Turner will introduce Ralph Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony at Carnegie Hall on April 25 with a reading of the moving and evocative text written by the American poet Walt Whitman.

Piotr Beczala will sing the title role in Gounod's Faust for the first time at the Met beginning March 21, opposite Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite, a role she sang in the 2011 premiere of Des McAnuff's production. Alain Altinoglu, who led Faust at the Met last season, returns to conduct the opera, which also stars John Relyea as the diabolical Mephistopheles, Alexey Markov as Valentin, and Julie Boulianne as Siebel.

The Orion Ensemble, winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, celebrates Women's History Month by welcoming guest soprano Patrice Michaels for 'A Voice from Heaven,' the third concert series of its 20th Anniversary Season. Performances take place today, March 10 at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church in Geneva, March 13 at the PianoForte Salon at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago and March 17 at Music Institute of Chicago's Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.

Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert present Proof written by David Auburn, and directed by Charles Newell. Proof will run tonight, March 7 - April 7, 2013 at Court Theatre.

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that James Conlon, the Company's Richard Seaver Music Director, has extended his contract with LA Opera through the end of the 2017/2018 season. "James has had an incredible impact on the artistic quality of LA Opera performances," said Mr. Domingo. "Since his arrival, he has conducted more than half of our mainstage performances, inspiring performers and audiences alike through his extraordinary talents. His vision for the company's future, like mine, is one of great ambition and optimism. We have so many exciting plans for LA Opera's seasons to come, and I am greatly looking forward to continuing our work together."

Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert present Proof written by David Auburn, and directed by Charles Newell. Proof will run March 7 - April 7, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8:00PM.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Ades (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).