By David Salazar
The Soraya in Northridge, CA, is set to present “All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914” on Dec. 7, 2022.
The work will be featured by Theater Latté Da, with artistic director Peter Rothstein directing a production that features musical arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach. The production is presented in collaboration with Hennepin Theatre Trust.
“All is Calm” was premiered by Cantus and Theater Latté Da at Joan of Arc Catholic Church and Westminster Presbyterian in 2007. Since then, the work has toured over 50 cities across the U.S. and Canada. In 2018, it won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and was broadcast on PBS in 2020 across North America.
The work will also get a performance by Orlando Opera, which is set to tour the work in Florida in early December this year.
By David Salazar
The Irish National Opera is set to present the U.K. premiere of Brian Irvine and Netia Jones’ “Least Like the Other” on Jan. 15-19, 2023.
The opera, which will take place at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, explores the tragedy of Rosemary Kennedy, the sister of U.S. President J.F. Kennedy. She was starved of oxygen at birth and experienced learning disabilities that would affect her adolescence and beyond. Her father’s reaction to her behavior was to lock her up and then force her to have a lobotomy at 23. She was then institutionalized from 1941 until she died in 2005; the lobotomy was kept secret from her siblings and family over decades.
Netia Jones will direct the opera with Fergus Sheil conducting. The opera will star singer Amy Ní Fherraigh and actors Ronan Leahy and Stephanie Dufresne.
“Rosemary Kennedy’s story has a powerful relevance today,” Sheil said in an official press statement. “Her parents created an image of the family as the ideal model of ambition and achievement in modern America. They were never going to tolerate any blemishes to this picture-perfect world. Brian Irvine and Netia Jones have created a profoundly challenging, quite extraordinary work of experimental musical theatre that is based on found text, including material from newspaper reports, biographies, memoirs, letters, intelligence tests and other sources that have only recently surfaced. Brian’s score and Netia’s staging take us into a world of heightened reality. Of course it’s challenging, but the piece is not bleak – there are moments of humor and lightness there, too.”
The Irish National Opera presented the work in 2019, with OperaWire’s Alan Nielsen stating that “The opera is a testament to the bravery and innovative approach of Irish National Opera. The company does not stick to the tried and tested, but instead embraces opera in all its forms… Certainly, INO makes room for them, but it is clearly prepared to move beyond this narrow range.”
By Chris Ruel
Photo: Roger Mastroianni
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced select performances for Blossom Music Festival 2023. The concerts will take place at the Blossom Music Center in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park from July 1-Sept. 3, 2023. Blossom Music Center is the summer home of The Cleveland Orchestra.
For this article, only vocal music is listed.
The performances kick off with a presentation of Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 (Choral). On the podium, leading The Orchestra and the Blossom Festival Chorus will be Jahja Ling. Also on the program is Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll.”
Performance Date: July 1, 2023
Later in July, the Orchestra will present “She’s Got Soul” with vocalist Capathia Jenkins. The program contains soulful hits by contemporary artists such as Adele, Toni Braxton, The Jackson 5, Earth, Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, and Stevie Wonder. Lucas Waldin conducts the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.
Performance Date: July 16, 2023
In August, The Orchestra will showcase six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald performing Broadway favorites. The program features Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin, and many others, along with songs from McDonald’s latest album, “Sing Happy.” Andy Einhorn conducts.
Performance Date: Aug. 13, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is set to present a production of Verdi’s “Ernani.”
The new production is part of the Maggio Autumn Festival and will be directed by Leo Muscato.
James Conlon conducts the production which is set to star Francesco Meli in one of his signature roles, Maria Jose Siri in her role debut as Elvira, Roberto Frontali, and Vitalij Kowaljow.
In a statement, Meli noted, “Ernani is a revolutionary, an unconventional man, who upholds his principles and defends his beloved at all costs, who is coherent with himself and his honor. He keeps his promises up until death: a character from whom we can learn a lot. Once again, Verdi gives us a hero full of ideals.”
The production is set to be performed between Nov. 10 and 20, 2022.
By Francisco Salazar
The Central City Opera is set to present the family-friendly opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” in a limited-run series across the Front Range this December.
The production will feature dynamic local singers, including tenor Javier Abreu as King Kaspar, mezzo-soprano Jennifer DeDominici as the Mother, bass-baritone Paul Griggsby as King Balthazar, baritone Jonathan Hays and King Melchior, baritone Jerome Síbulo as the Page, and Brian Erickson and Kason Nicholas (appearing courtesy of the Colorado Children’s Chorale) will share the role of Amahl.
Members of the Central City Opera Orchestra will be conducted by Central City Opera Music Director John Baril, while Iliana Lucero Barron will direct the production.
“Amahl and the Night Visitors” will run between Dec. 11 and 18, 2022.
By Logan Martell
Lincoln Center has announced additional programming for their winter and spring lineup of performances for the 2022-23 season.
First up is a presentation of Terrance McKnight’s “Langston & Beethoven: Black & Proud,” which celebrates the famous poet’s birthday with a number of works by Beethoven, David Baker, and George Gershwin, set to Hughes’ poems. This collaboration with the New York Philharmonic will feature select members of the orchestra, joined by guest piano soloist Kyle Walker and tenor Chauncey Packer.
Performance Dates: Feb. 1, 2023
Baritone Will Liverman will perform selections from his Grammy-nominated album “Dreams of a New Day,” which showcases the work of renowned Black composers. Presented in collaboration with The Metropolitan Opera, Liverman is set to return this season after starring in last year’s opening production of “Fire Shut Up In My Bones.”
Performance Dates: Feb. 15, 2023
Among the events will also be the world premiere of “Search for Spring,” a large-scale choral work dealing with climate justice by composer Jonathan Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton. Amateur singers are encouraged to apply in January for the May performance, which will take place on LC’s Josie Robertson Plaza.
Performance Dates: May 2023
By Francisco Salazar
Christine Goerke was named a Chevalier de l’orde des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
The soprano receive the distinction on Nov. 6 at the Kennedy Center November 6 following a performance of “Elektra.”
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres was established by the French government in 1957 to recognize artists who have made a significant contribution to furthering the arts in France and throughout the world.
Goerke has performed all over the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Paris, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season she returns to the Detroit Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. She is set to appear at the Richard Tucker gala.
By Nicolas Quiroga
The Calgary Opera is set to present Bizet’s “Carmen” on November 19, 23 and 25, 2022 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
“Carmen” will feature Tunisian-Canadian rising star Rihab Chaieb, Panamanian-American baritone Nmon Ford, Canadian tenor David Pomeroy, members of the Cantaré Children’s Choir, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and the McPhee Artists of the Calgary Opera. Mark Morash conducts with Brenna Corner directing.
“The young cast will be able to bring a fresh and distinct perspective and use it to highlight the nuances of this opera,” Corner said in an official press statement. “It’s important to continue sharing this part of the classical opera canon and remind audiences that Carmen is about a woman and her freedom; she must be brave enough to be true to herself and the ultimate cost of that bravery in this society.”
Calgary Opera General Manager and CEO Heather Kitchen added, “We wanted to gift Calgary with a beloved classic of opera and our community has let it be known that they are excited to see this opera. This dramatic and moving story about the most dangerous woman is not to be missed.”
By Francisco Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera is set to present the world-premiere staging of composer Kevin Puts’s “The Hours.”
The opera, which is set to be presented between Nov. 22 and Dec. 15, is adapted from Michael Cunningham’s acclaimed novel. The work will see the return of Renée Fleming, who has not performed with the company since 2017, in the role of Clarissa Vaughan. She will be joined by Kelli O’Hara and Joyce DiDonato as Laura Brown, and Virginia Woolf.
Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to the Met podium for teh first time this season conducting the production by Phelim McDermott. The cast will also include mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves as Sally, Clarissa’s partner; soprano Kathleen Kim as Barbara and Mrs. Latch; soprano Sylvia D’Eramo as Kitty and Vanessa; countertenor John Holiday as the Man Under the Arch and the Hotel Clerk; bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as Richard, Clarissa’s best friend who is dying from AIDS; tenor William Burden as Louis, Richard’s ex-boyfriend; tenor Sean Panikkar as Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf’s husband; and bass-baritone Brandon Cedel as Dan Brown, Laura Brown’s husband.
Kensho Watanabe conducts the Dec. 15 performance of “The Hours.”
“The Hours” was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film version starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman.
On Dec. 10, the opera will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the globe as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. The Nov. 22 and Dec. 7 and 10 performances will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 355.
By David Salazar
The Cleveland Orchestra is set to stream a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” on Nov. 12, 2022.
The showcase, which will be conducted by Franz Welser-Möst will star Lauren Snouffer and Marie-Nicole Lemieux as the soloists.
This is the ensemble’s first performance of this Symphony since receiving the autograph manuscript earlier this year. Audiences will be provided with historical context and storytelling as part of the stream. There will also be insights from Welser-Möst and musicians on performing Mahler’s work.
“Discovery flourishes on Symphony with presentations by the best of the best orchestras and conductors from all around the world. The Cleveland Orchestra has a stellar reputation as one of the premier orchestras in the world, and we are thrilled to be working with them to co-produce this ‘Symphony Night Live’ performance,” said Rob Overman, Founder of Symphony Media in an official press statement. “Joining Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra is now part of a global network of orchestras sharing their music with the world and democratizing access and discovery to new music.”
This represents the first of four streams throughout the year. Later this season, audiences will get a chance to check out John Adams’ “El Niño” followed by Mozart’s Requiem and the world premiere of a trumpet concerto by Wynton Marsalis.
