Fabio Luisi Returns to Zurich Opera in Lead-Up to Second Season as General Music Director
by Kelsey Denette
- May 1, 2013
When Fabio Luisi took up his post as General Music Director of the Zurich Opera last fall, he helped launch a new era, marked by bold productions and inspired artistic collaborations. For the great Swiss opera house's newly announced 2013-14 season, he continues to build on this auspicious start. As the Intermezzo blog reports, "Zurich's programming is showing an increasingly adventurous touch," and Luisi has succeeded once again in attracting some of today's most visionary directors and conductors - with such young stars as Mikko Franck, Teodor Currentzis, Cornelius Meister, and Pavel Baleff - and in drawing together first-rate casts that juxtapose living legends like Cecilia Bartoli, Edita Gruberova, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Rene Pape, and Nina Stemme with emerging singers on the cusp of international stardom. Anchoring the new season are eleven new productions, 18 revivals, and six orchestral concerts. Having just won a Grammy Award for his leadership of Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera, in Zurich Luisi sets his sights on this year's other great operatic bicentennial, with four operas by Giuseppe Verdi. The conductor himself will play a major part in the new season, premiering important productions of Fidelio and Aida, as well as leading four programs with the Philharmonia Zurich and revivals of Don Carlo, Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Bellini's La straniera. By way of a prelude to the upcoming season, the company's new take on this bel canto classic will form the centerpiece of Luisi's summer in Zurich, which also sees him directing Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier, and concerts of Schumann's orchestral and choral music.
Angela Meade Leads I LOMBARDI at Avery Fisher Hall, 4/8
by Kelsey Denette
- Apr 5, 2013
In honor of this year's Verdi bicentennial, there will be a number of upcoming opportunities to hear her perform the great Italian composer's music. The first of these takes place this Monday, April 8, when Meade - winner of the 2011 Richard Tucker and 2012 Beverly Sills Awards - stars as Giselda in a concert performance of I Lombardi at New York's Lincoln Center.
William Christie to Conduct Les Arts Florissants in DAVID ET JONATHAS at BAM, 4/17-21
by BWW News Desk
- Apr 2, 2013
Following their landmark revival of Atys in 2011, esteemed conductor William Christie and his early music ensemble Les Arts Florissants return to BAM with another French Baroque gem: David et Jonathas, in a production directed by the general manager of Zurich Opera House Andreas Homoki, making his US debut.
Canadian Opera Company to Close 2012-13 Season With DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES
by Kelsey Denette
- Mar 18, 2013
The Canadian Opera Company closes its 2012/2013 season with a production of Francis Poulenc's operatic masterpiece, Dialogues des Carmelites, described by Variety as "subtle, yet gut-wrenching." Internationally renowned Canadian director Robert Carsen returns to the COC for a third consecutive season to direct a cast of 161 performers, led by three Canadian opera stars: Isabel Bayrakdarian, Adrianne Pieczonka andJudith Forst. COC Music Director Johannes Debus makes his fourth conducting appearance of the 12/13 season leading his first Dialogues des Carmelites. He conducts the COC Orchestra and Chorus through what is considered to be Poulenc's most haunting score and a work that contains one of opera's most devastating and unforgettable final scenes. Dialogues des Carmelites is sung in French with English SURTITLES. Last performed by the COC in 1997, the opera returns to the company for eight performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on May 8, 11, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25, 2013.
James Levine Returns to the Met to Conduct Three Operas; Full Season Announced Including Nico Muhly, Craig Lucas, Bartlett Sher & More!
by BWW News Desk
- Feb 26, 2013
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Metropolitan Opera 2013/2014 Season to Feature FALSTAFF, DIE FLEDERMAUS, PRINCE IGOR and More
by BWW News Desk
- Feb 26, 2013
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Met's 2013-14 Season to Feature 26 Operas, With 6 New Productions, Including a U.S. Premiere
by BWW News Desk
- Feb 26, 2013
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
Jonas Kaufmann Sings the Title Role in a New Production of PARSIFAL for the Metropolitan Opera
by Kelsey Denette
- Jan 31, 2013
Jonas Kaufmann will sing the title role in a new staging of Wagner's final opera, Parsifal,conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Francois Girard in his Met debut. The new production of Wagner's transcendent masterpiece will open February 15 with an extraordinary cast of Wagnerian stars, including Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry; Peter Mattei in his role debut as Amfortas, the wounded King of the Knights of the Holy Grail; Rene Pape as the wise knight Gurnemanz; Evgeny Nikitin as the evil Klingsor; and Runi Brattaberg in his Met debut as Titurel, Amfortas's father. The production team for Girard's staging includes set designer Michael Levine, costume designer Thibault Vancraenenbroeck, lighting designer David Finn, video designer Peter Flaherty, choreographer Carolyn Choa, and dramaturg Serge Lamothe. The Saturday, March 2 matinee performance of Parsifal 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.
The 65th Annual Festival d'Aix-en-Provence Will Run July 4 to 27
by Kelsey Denette
- Jan 22, 2013
The 65th annual Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, will feature five opera productions, a selection of orchestral concerts, recitals, chamber music performances, world music programs, and more than 50 events from the 16th annual European Academy of Music. The Festival marks important milestones this year: Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner's 200th birthday anniversaries; Benjamin Britten's centennial; the 50th anniversary of Francis Poulenc's death; and celebrates Marseille-Provence 2013, European Cultural Capital for the year. All events unfold in extraordinary venues, many of them open-air, in and around the picturesque ancient Provencal city: a Medieval archbishop's palace, an 18th century Italian-style theatre, a private courtyard hidden behind doors dating back to the time of Louis XV, and an 11th century Romanesque chapel inside the grounds of a Renaissance castle - as well as a state of the art, 1,350-seat theatre. The official portion of the Festival runs from July 4 to 27, 2013.
Festival D'Aix-en-Provence Presents 65th Season
by BWW News Desk
- Jan 22, 2013
The 65th annual Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, will feature five opera productions, a selection of orchestral concerts, recitals, chamber music performances, world music programs, and more than 50 events from the 16th annual European Academy of Music. The Festival marks important milestones this year: Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner's 200th birthday anniversaries; Benjamin Britten's centennial; the 50th anniversary of Francis Poulenc's death; and celebrates Marseille-Provence 2013, European Cultural Capital for the year. All events unfold in extraordinary venues, many of them open-air, in and around the picturesque ancient Provencal city: a Medieval archbishop's palace, an 18th century Italian-style theatre, a private courtyard hidden behind doors dating back to the time of Louis XV, and an 11th century Romanesque chapel inside the grounds of a Renaissance castle - as well as a state of the art, 1,350-seat theatre. The official portion of the Festival runs from July 4 to 27, 2013.
Highlights im November an der Deutschen Oper Berlin
by Marcel Konrath
- Oct 29, 2012
Im November wird die TISCHLEREI, die neue Spielstatte der Deutschen Oper Berlin, eroffnet. Die ehemalige Tischlerei des Hauses, eine hohe Werkhalle aus dem Jahr 1933, wird auch als Musiktheaterbuhneein Arbeits- und Experimentierraum bleiben - fur zeitgenossische
Formen von Musiktheater und Konzert.
Canadian Opera Company Closes Season at 91% Attendance
by Kelsey Denette
- Jun 26, 2012
The Canadian Opera Company has closed another successful opera season with 2011/2012 recording an average attendance of 91%. A total of 125,238 patrons attended the 67 performances of the company's seven mainstage productions in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris, Verdi's Rigoletto, Puccini's Tosca, Saariaho's Love from Afar, Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, the double bill of Zemlinsky's A Florentine Tragedy and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and Handel's Semele.
|
|