By Francisco Salazar
Glyndebourne has canceled its 2023 tour following a reduction to its Arts Council England (ACE) funding for touring and its learning and engagement work.
The company announced that while the application to join Arts Council England’s 2023 – 2026 National Portfolio was successful, the £800,000 annual funding offered for that period is at a lower level than applied for and it is half the amount that was received during the previous NPO funding period (2018 – 2022).
The budget cut also comes at a moment when costs are rising and follows a number of years over which the company has absorbed losses from its autumn tour, which has always been significantly underwritten by the Glyndebourne Festival,
In a statement, Richard Davidson-Houston, Managing Director of Glyndebourne, said, “The latest funding settlement from Arts Council England is devastating for many in the opera sector, which was targeted with significant cuts. It risks undermining the delicate ecosystem in which we operate. These cuts have been justified in part by the need to redirect public funding to support culture in the regions. In this context, the decision to reduce Glyndebourne’s funding by 50% appears contradictory because it has the direct, inevitable and foreseeable consequence of rendering our tour financially unsustainable.”
Artistic Director Stephen Langridge added, “It is a huge blow to have to cancel our tour in 2023 which would have taken us to Liverpool, Canterbury, Norwich and Milton Keynes. Alongside main stage performances, we had planned exciting opportunities for people in those locations to make music with Glyndebourne in their community. This would have seen hundreds of children singing with the Glyndebourne Chorus, workshops in care homes and chamber music recitals in universities. Sadly, this autumn we will not be able to offer these extraordinary opera experiences so widely across England.”
The company announced that full details of a revised program of activity at Glyndebourne autumn 2023 will be published in the coming weeks.
By Francisco Salazar
Annalisa Stroppa has signed with GM Art&Music for General Management.
The Italian mezzo recently performed at the Donizetti Opera Festival and later performs the role of Suzuki in “Madama Butterfly” at the Bregenz Festival. She will also perform in a production of “La Gioconda” in Las Palmas, Spain.
A graduate of the Conservatory of Brescia, she made her debut on the international stage in 2011 as Cherubino in Mercadante’s “I due Figaro” at the Salzburger Festspiele, under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
She has since performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Wiener Staatsoper, Bavarian State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Real, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Berlin State Opera.
By Chris Ruel
Konzert und Theater St. Gallen is set to present “The Ring in One Evening,” at Tonhalle St. Gallen from Jan. 12 -15, 2023.
The abridged concert version of Wagner’s epic includes interludes by German humorist, cartoonist, film director, and actor Loriot.
Loriot cut the 14-and-one-half-hour saga into a digestible concert featuring highlights from each opera. At the concert’s premiere in 1992, Loriot narrated, humorously reporting on the Rhine Daughters guarding the gold, Siegfried’s battle with the dragon, Wotan’s woes, and more.
Konzert und Theater St. Gallen’s presentation features Bruno Riedl as the narrator and a vocalist lineup comprising soprano Alexandra Petersamer as Brünnhilde and tenor Roy Cornelius Smith as Siegfried, along with Christopher Sokolowski (Siegmund), David Maze (Alberich and Gunther), Kristján Jóhannesson (Wotan and Hagen), Libby Sokolowski (Sieglinde), Riccardo Botta (Loge and Mime), Fiqerete Ymeraj (Woglinde), Candy Grace Ho (Wellgunde) and Christina Blaschke (Flosshilde) from the music theatre ensemble.
St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra’s principal conductor, Modestas Pitrenas, conducts.
By David Salazar
The Opéra National de Paris is set to showcase “Peter Grimes,” opening on January 26, 2023.
The opera is directed by Deborah Warner, whose production premiered at the Teatro Real de Madrid in 2021. Conductor Alexander Soddy, who worked as the music director at the Nationaltheater Mannheim between 2016-22, will make his Paris Opera debut in the pit.
Headlining the production will be Allan Clayton, who recently took on the role at the Met Opera to rave reviews. Of his performance, OperaWire noted, ‘From the get-go, his Grimes was a tortured soul, his “I swear by Almighty God” weighty and mournful; you could sense the weight of the guilt he was carrying. His body language throughout, hunched over and weary, only added to this sense of a man completely out of sorts with his life. Furthermore, his treatment of the child, brutal in the early scenes, added to the complexity—on one hand you felt empathy for his loneliness, and on the other you could relate to the Borough folk’s fear of him.’
Joining him is Maria Bengtsson, Simon Keenlyside, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Anna-Sophie Neher, Ilanah Lobel-Torres, John Graham-Hall, Clive Bayley, Rosie Aldridge, James Gilchrist, Jacques Imbrailo, and Stephen Richardson.
There will be a total of nine performances.
By Francisco Salazar
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has announced a cast change for its production of “La Traviata.”
The company said that Aida Garifullina will take over the role of Violetta replacing the originally announced Nadine Sierra.
Gariullina recently performed the role of Violetta with the Bolshoi Theatre as well as the Staatsoper Hamburg. She has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Staatsoper Berlin, among others. She is set to perform “La Boheme” at Staatsoper Berlin later this season.
The Russian soprano joins a cast that includes Francesco Meli and Plácido Domingo. Zubin Mehta conducts the production by Davide Livermore.
“La Traviata” opens on Feb. 12 and runs through Feb. 22, 2023.
By Francisco Salazar
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its performance of “Die Fledermaus” on Jan. 4, 2023.
The company said that Laura Aikin would sing the role of Rosalinde.
Aikin has performed at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milano, Bavarian State Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, Netherlands Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Semperoper Dresden, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Opera Frankfurt, Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera New York, among others.
The soprano joins a cast that includes Andreas Schager, Wolfgang Bankl, Christina Bock, Daniel Jenz, Adrian Eröd, and Maria Nazarova. Yoel Gamzou conducts the production by Otto Schenk.
By Francisco Salazar
The Staatsoper Berlin has announced a cast change for its upcoming production of “Turandot.”
The company said that Anna Samuil will sing the title role on March 17 and 21 replacing Elena Pankratova.
Samuil made her Staatsoper Berlin debut in 2003 and has sin performed such roles as Donna Anna, Fiordiligi, Contessa, Tatjana, Mimì, Musetta, Adina, Micaëla, Elisabetta, Agathe, Rosalinde, Ariadne, and Elsa. She has also performed at teh Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Palau de les Arts, Salzburger Festspiele, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Arena di Verona.
Samuil is set to join a cast that includes Jan Ježek, René Pape, Fabio Sartori, and Olga Peretyatko. Maxime Pascal conducts the revival of Philipp Stölzl.
“Turandot” opens on Feb. 24, 2023 with Pankaratova.
By Francisco Salazar
The Gran Teatre del Liceu has announced that Giacomo Sagripanti will conduct some performances of “Tosca.”
The company said that due Maestro Henrik Nánási has suffered an injury to his left shoulder and, in order not to burden it, Sagripanti will take over the performances on Jan. 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, and 20.
Nánási will still conduct performances on Jan. 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19.
Sagripanti is a well-known Italian conductor who has performed with the Festival della Valle d’Itria, Semperoper in Dresden, Teatro La Fenice, Opernhaus Zürich, Bolshoi Theatre, Opéra de Paris, Teatro de La Maestranza in Sevilla and the Rossini Opera Festival, among others.
“Tosca” opens on Jan. 4 and is set to star Maria Agresta, Emily Magee, Monica Zanettin, Sondra Radvanovsky, Michael Fabiano, Antonio Corianò, Vittorio Grigolo, Željko Lučić, and George Gagnidze.
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit:© Lena Fainberg)
The Wiener Staatsoper has announced a new cast change for its performance of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” on Jan. 3, 2022.
The company said that Vasilisa Berzhanskaya will sing the role of Rosina replacing Patricia Nolz, who is ill.
Berzhanskaya was originally set to perform the opera in September with the company but had to bow out. The mezzo performed the premiere of the current production in 2021 to great acclaim. She has performed at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Rossini Opera Festival, among others.
The mezzo joins a cast that includes Alasdair Kent, Paolo Bordogna, Peter Kellner, and Stefan Astakhov. Michele Mariotti conducts the production by Herbert Fritsch.
By David Salazar
British tenor Nigel Douglas passed away at the age of 93.
Most famous for creating numerous roles throughout his career, Douglas was born on May 9, 1929 at Torry Hill. He studied in Vienna where his career kicked off in 1959 as Rodolfo in “La Bohème.” He made his debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in 1964 and appeared at such companies as the Vienna Volksoper, Scottish Opera, and Welsh Nation Opera.
He debuted at Glyndebourne in 1995 in a production of “The Makropulos Case” and remained with the company until 2001, performing that same opera across three different seasons.
In sum, he performed over 80 roles throughout his career. He also originated the role of Britten’s “Owen Wingrave” at the Royal Opera House and on BBC.
He was also a frequent broadcaster of musical talks and authored two books, “Legendary Voices” (1992) and “More Legendary Voices” (1994).
