SALOME

OperaUpClose has announced its new programme of reinventions; a series of one-act operas by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss reimagined for the modern world....

I couldn’t help but wondering whether the scheduling last week of two recent productions at the Vienna State Opera, Claus Guth’s TURANDOT and Cyril Teste’s SALOME, on subsequent nights had anything more than the availability of the stars behind it. After all, both portrayed the title characters as abused women scarred by powerful men—not exactly the business-as-usual for these works by Puccini and Strauss, respectively—in pared-down productions that hearkened to the father of psychoanalysis, Sig...

The Met has announced the winners of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Learn more about the winners here!...

It took Richard Strauss only about 100 minutes apiece (with no breaks) to tell the lurid tale of SALOME and the tragedy of ELEKTRA. So why on earth did he and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal need almost five hours (including two intermissions) to tell the personal stories of an “aging” (she was really in her 30s) noblewoman, a couple of teenagers in love and a repulsive sexual predator?...

It’s hard to compete with yourself — especially the ‘you’ that was at the height of your powers. I think that’s part of the problem with the place that Richard Strauss’s DAPHNE holds in the composer’s canon. Often referred to as a second- (or even third-) tier work, it has much to offer and enjoy, as the performance by the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall the other night proved quite well....

​​​​​​​Wagner's soaring masterpiece Lohengrin returns to the Met stage after 17 years, in a new production by internationally renowned director François Girard. The production runs from February 26th-April 1st....

OPERA America has announced the eighth cycle of the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize to four teams of creative artists. The biennial prize recognizes promising stage directors and designers for their ingenuity in bringing operatic work to life for contemporary audiences and connects these rising artists with producers who can advance their careers. ...

Celebrating its 10th anniversary season, On Site Opera gave its audiences a present: The lively, fun-filled GIANNI SCHICCHI--the only comedy in Puccini’s trifecta, IL TRITTICO, which had its world premiere at the Met in 1918 and is surely its most popular of the triptych of one-acts. Of course, the composer’s written about greed, love and violence before, but never in a way to lift the spirits and tickle one’s fancy, using Giovacchino Forzano’s libretto....

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that opera singer Maria Ewing has died at age 71. Ewing sang soprano and mezzo-soprano, and was also the mother of actress Rebecca Hall. ...

Australian opera director Cameron Menzies recently took to Northern Ireland to run an opera company....

Opera singer Denyce Graves recently performed as part of a memorial for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg....

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma has announced its streaming lineup for this week...

Anna Netrebko has dropped out of The Metropolitan Opera's new production of R. Strauss' 'Salome.'...

Luckily for viewers on the Metropolitan Opera's “Met on Demand”—with selections available free in this time of COVID-19, on your laptop or as apps for your phone or tablet—there were a couple of knee-slappers thrown in among the drama of AIDA, PARSIFAL and ROMEO ET JULIETTE this week. Two of my favorites were there: Donizetti's DON PASQUALE and Verdi's FALSTAFF....