Norma 1876

Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda (no link whatsoever with the painting in the Louvre) is one of those works too rarely represented despite its obvious qualities. Once the most successful opera between Verdi's Aida (1871) and Otello (1887), it is now considered a work stylistically so heterogeneous and both vocally and scenically so demanding that few opera houses try their hand at it. La Monnaie takes on the challenge and invites conductor Paolo Carignani and stage director Olivier Py to revive the whole grand opera behind 'The Dance of the Hours'.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced the casting and schedule for the Company's summer 2018 presentations of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The four-opera cycle of Das Rheingold,Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-widely considered the greatest and most ambitious work ever conceived for the lyric stage-will be presented in three complete cycles from June 12 through July 1, 2018. 

Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, Prize Laureate of the 2012 Honens Prize for Piano, makes his debut studio recording with Pyotr Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, Op 37b, andSix Morceaux, Op 19, on the Hyperion label (CDA68028).

Performers were originally brought to Goodspeed directly from New York City, typically by Steamboat. Though we are now brought by the Goodspeed Guild members in vans and buses, it is still exciting to come down the side of the river valley and near the swing bridge and see the towering Goodspeed Opera House on the other bank.

According to their official Facebook page, Goodspeed Musicals will be closed today, March 8, due to the weather. For additional information, visit: http://www.goodspeed.org/

According tot the Hartford Courant, Goodspeed Opera House has announced it's three productions for the 2013 50th anniversary season. Good News will play April 12 to June 22, Hello, Dolly! from June 28 to September 8, and The Most Happy Fella from September 20 to December 1. Casting has not yet been announced.