BWW Interview: Third Time's The Charm For IL TROVATORE's Guanqun Yu
by Gil Kaan - Sep 30, 2021
LA Opera has opened their 35th season with Verdi's IL TROVATORE. Conducted by James Conlon and directed by Francisco Negrín, live performances at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through October 10th will be supplemented by two live streams October 3rd and 6th. IL TROVATORE stars Guanqun Yu in the role of Leonora. Had the chance to query Guanqun on her vocal regimen and her lightbulb moment when she realized she wanted a career singing opera.
Michigan Opera Theatre Stages 12-Hour Performance of BLISS
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Sep 28, 2021
Michigan Opera Theatre this past Saturday presented a 12-hour staging of “Bliss,” from noon to midnight, blending singers and the orchestra as they performed the final scene of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”.
Opera Philadelphia to Stream Mozart's THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, October 22
by A.A. Cristi - Sep 14, 2021
September marks two years since Opera Philadelphia's orchestra, chorus, staff, and principal singers have gathered at the historic Academy of Music to produce opera. As the company works to bring live opera back to its longtime home, it continues to bring the art form into fans' homes by producing new operatic films and revisiting favorite productions streamed on the Opera Philadelphia Channel.
LA Opera Returns To Full-Scale, In-Person Productions With Verdi's IL TROVATORE
by A.A. Cristi - Aug 26, 2021
LA Opera opens its 2021/22 season on September 18, 2021, with Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore, marking its official return to fully staged productions for in-person audiences for the first time since March 8, 2020. A new vaccination policy, along with a new, state-of-the-art air filtration system and enhanced cleaning protocols, will ensure the best and safest possible experience for audiences, artists and staff, the company's top priority.
The Atlanta Opera Presents CABARET and AS ONE In Discoveries Series
by A.A. Cristi - Aug 16, 2021
The Atlanta Opera returns to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre this season for its four mainstage productions: Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Mason Bates's The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
BWW Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Simulcast To Cars in Parking Lot
by Maria Nockin - Aug 5, 2021
British stage director Netia Jones put her singular stamp on a production of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream seen at the Santa Fe Opera on August 4, 2021. Performed in the opera house, it was simulcast to the lower parking lot where hundreds of patrons watched from the safety of their cars. One can take the entire family in the car.
BWW Review: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO at Santa Fe Opera
by Maria Nockin - Aug 4, 2021
The singing in this performance made it one of the best Figaros I’ve seen in many years. Despite singing recitative, vocal runs, and high notes with silvery tones for three and a half hours, Ying Fang as Susanna never sounded the least bit tired. Her character was a 20th century woman with dreams of equality. At the behest of conductor Harry Bicket, she and all the other leading artists decorated the repeats in their arias.
Santa Fe Opera Announces 'Opera in the Park' Lineup
by Stephi Wild - Jul 23, 2021
These events are part of the opera’s reopening celebrations and ongoing commitment to bring the joy of opera to all New Mexicans. The opera invites attendees to bring a picnic, spread out on the grass and enjoy the show.
Hawaii Opera Theatre Announces 2021-22 Season Lineup
by Stephi Wild - Jul 18, 2021
The October grand opening will be a one-act program of beloved arias, duets and ensembles from opera and musical theater performed in concert, led by conductor Mark Morash, and staged by HOT Artistic Advisor Jamie Offenbach.
BWW Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - Jul 17, 2021
After Hours: Songs of Protest honors and celebrates a wide range of passionate music that galvanizes activists for social justice. This program of iconic songs, made famous by performers like Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Sam Cooke, is specially curated by Host and Artist in Residence Russell Thomas. Soprano Brandie Sutton, baritone Justin Austin.
BWW Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - Jul 10, 2021
On the Los Angeles Opera website, Igor Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex is available to stream now thru July 18th. Stravinsky based his opera Oedipus Rex on the ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Oedipus Rex, is staged with minimal movement, which works well with COVID restrictions. A narrator describes the action in English.
The Santa Fe Opera Announces Six Casting Updates For The 2021 Season
by A.A. Cristi - Jul 8, 2021
The Santa Fe Opera announces the following casting updates for the 2021 Season opening on July 10 and running through August 27: Laurie Feldman will direct The Marriage of Figaro after a concept by French Director Laurent Pelly, who is unable to travel to Santa Fe due to international travel restrictions and has therefore been following rehearsals and the progress of the production from France.
BWW Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - Jul 3, 2021
In the video, Gallup/Na'nízhoozhí, Anthony Roth Costanzo and Davone Tines sing music by Matthew Aucoin written to poetry by Jake Skeets. Lowe and Skeets are both Navajo artists. Skeets, who grew up in Gallup, gives his hometown a leading role in his poetry. Lowe's film is an unflinching yet tender portrait of the city in 2021.
LA Opera Announces Appointment Of Keith Leonard As New Board Chair
by A.A. Cristi - Jun 22, 2021
The LA Opera Board of Directors has elected Keith Leonard as the new chair. Leonard, a board member since 2015, has served as the chair of the executive committee and vice chair of the campaign committee for the past year, where he worked closely with both board and staff leadership.
Opera Holland Park Announces OPERA IN SONG Lineup
by Stephi Wild - Jun 15, 2021
The series features leading artists including pianists Perez, Ella O’Neill and Simon Lepper, singers Fleur Barron, Nicky Spence, Anush Hovhannisyan and Nardus Williams, and three of the 2021 OHP Young Artists, Charlotte Badham, Charlotte Bowden and Isabelle Peters. The series was curated by Julien Van Mellaerts in collaboration with Dylan Perez, for Opera Holland Park.
Cast Change Announced For Royal Opera House's DON GIOVANNI
by Stephi Wild - Jun 3, 2021
English baritone Christopher Maltman has withdrawn from performing in the last two performances of Don Giovanni on Friday 16 and Sunday 18 July 2021. This is due to ongoing quarantine regulations meaning he is unable to honour his artistic commitments at Covent Garden due to scheduled appearances in Rome and Salzburg.
BWW Feature: ONLINE VIRTUAL OPERA TOUR at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - Jun 1, 2021
Los Angeles Opera presents a digital recital exploring the invaluable contributions Latina composers have made to the world of classical music. LAO’s much-beloved After Hours Recital Series is back, and this time it celebrates eleven Latina composers. Russell Thomas, the company's Artist in Residence-turned-host, curated this fabulous stream to transport viewers virtually to Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, and Peru.