By Francisco Salazar
Charlotte’s Opera Carolina has announced its 2022-23 featuring three productions.
Alyson Cambridge, John Viscardi, and Steven Condy star in Puccini’s “Tosca.” James Meena conducts James Marvel’s production.
Performance Dates: Oct. 13-16, 2022
Gerswhin’s “Porgy and Bess” is set to star Kenneth Overton, Nicole Cabell, Victor Ryan Robertson, Michelle Johnson, Sequina DuBose, Donovan Singletary, and Lucia Bradford. James Meena conducts with Du’Bois A’Keen directing.
Performance Dates: Jan 22-28, 2023
Melinda Whittington and Dominic Armstrong headline Verdi’s “La Traviata” with James Meena conducting and Sam Mungo directing.
Performance Dates: April 20-23, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The rarely performed opera “Tintomara” by Swedish composer Lars Johan Werle is set to be performed July 9, 2022 at Läckö Castle in Sweden.
The opera is based on the event surrounding the murder of King Gustaf III at a masked ball in 1792 and a mysterious young woman, Azouras Lazuli Tintomara La Tournerose.
The opera is set to star Swedish soprano Matilda Sterby and mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Leyser as the sisters Amanda and Adolfine as well as Sidsel Eriksen in the title role of Tintomara. Mattias Ermedahl directs and conducted by Simon Kim Phipps.
When Sterby spoke to OperaWire she said, “It’s contemporary. When you first hear it, you might think it’s very random but then you get to hear it and you find that it is very well written, and it’s both harder and easier to sing in Swedish because you become very thorough in the way of pronouncing words. If I sing in Italian or German, then I would adjust the vowels to make the vowels sound better. In Swedish, I know that it is not as easy to adjust because unconsciously I try to make it sound the right way. The vowels are very clear like German and even Italian. You want to make it perfectly right because you can and you know what it is supposed to sound like. As a result, it makes you eager to make it right. This production will be outdoor for a local audience so there will be no subtitles. So you want to make sure that everyone knows what you are singing especially since it is contemporary opera.”
By Francisco Salazar
The Washington Concert Opera has announced its 2022-23 season.
The company will celebrate the Bel Canto tradition with Donizetti and Verdi with the theme “Stories Through Sound.”
The season will open with the WCO Gala at the French Embassy.
Performance Date: Oct 12, 2022
The first mainstage production will be Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” starring René Barbera in the title role, Roberta Mantegna as Queen Elizabeth, Julie Boulianne as Sara, and Ricardo José Rivera as The Duke of Nottingham.
Performance Date: Dec. 4, 2022
Verdi’s “Nabucco” will star Baritone Lester Lynch in the title role while soprano Alexandra Loutsion will sing Abigaille, bass Peter Volpe will be Zaccaria, and tenor Andres Acosta will sing Ismaele.
Performance Date: March 4, 2023
In addition to the season productions, WCO will host a number of free Opera Outside concerts throughout the DC Metro Area.
By Francisco Salazar
The Salzburg Festival has announced its broadcast schedule.
The company will broadcast on TV and stream as well as showcase works in cinema and on the radio.
The company will broadcast “Die Zauberflöte” on MEZZO on July 30 and stream on Arte on August 20. The opera will also be in cinemas on July 30. On August 11, the opera will also be broadcast on Servus TV.
Puccini’s “Il Trittico” will also be broadcast on ORF 2 on August 13 and will also be streamed on Arte. The audience can hear a radio broadcast on July 29 on O1.
Meanwhile, “Káťa Kabanová” will be broadcast on ORF 2 on August 15 and 3SAT on August 20. A radio broadcast will be heard on August 13 on O1.
The company will also hold radio broadcasts of “Aida” on August August 27 and “Lucia di Lammermoor” on Sept. 24.
By Francisco Salazar
On July 15, Rossini in Wildbad, Germany is set to open. Here is a look at the program.
The season will open with Rossini’s “Armida” starring Ruth Iniesta, Fan Zhou, Michel Angelini, Moisés Marin, Patrick Kabongo, Chuan Wang, and César Arrieta.
Performance Dates: July 15-20, 2022
“Ermione” will be conducted by Antonino Fogliani and will be staged by Jochen Schönleber. Serena Farnocchia sings the title role alongside Moisés Marin, Patrick Kabongo, and Aurora Faggioli
Performance Dates: July 16 & 23, 2022
“Adina” will be conducted by Luciano Acocella and will star Sara Blanch, Emmanuel Franco, César Arrieta, and Shi Zong.
Performance Dates: July 17-24, 2022
“Monsieur Offenbach chez Rossini” will be performed. Additionally, Rossini’s Stabat mater will be conducted by Antonino Fogliani and will star Serena Farnocchia, Aurora Faggioli, Michele Angelini, and Shi Zong.
Performance Date: July 21, 2022
Margarita Gritskova sings a concert dedicated to Donizetti.
Performance Date: July 22, 2022
Rossini & Co. will see the bel canto stars of the future present the extremely popular final concerts of the master classes with arias and ensembles.
Performance Dates: July 17 & 23, 2022
By Logan Martell
On August 1, 2022, Glyndebourne will launch the recording of their new production of Ethel Smyth’s “The Wreckers,” on their Glyndebourne Encore streaming platform.
The production is the first professional staging of the work in recent years, and was presented with its original French libretto and a fully-restored score.
In OperaWire’s review of the production, Benjamin Poore noted that “It is neither a solid-gold masterpiece nor a mediocrity, at least in musical terms, and – like many operas with visible seams or formulaic shapes in their music – could live an interesting life as a repertory piece if directed and produced with imagination, as it certainly was here. The drama continued even when we left the theatre – the Glyndebourne gardens had their shroud of darkness punctuated by great burning braziers, like those Marc and Thurza light to warn the ships.”
The upcoming productions of Glyndebourne will be made available on Glyndebourne Encore, including “Alcina,” “La Bohème,” and the Poulenc double-bill, along with past recordings. GE can be accessed by any web browser, Android, iPhone, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV devices. Annual subscriptions are available for 80 Euros, or 60 Euros for Glyndebourne Members.
By Francisco Salazar
The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced a cast change for its production of “Macbeth.”
The company noted that Artur Ruciński has withdrawn from the title roles for performances set for July 14 and 18. As a result, he will be replaced by Craig Colclough on July 14 and George Petean on July 18.
Colclough is a well-known Macbeth who has performed the role at the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago while Petean has performed the opera at the Wiener Staatsoper to acclaim.
The two baritones join a cast that includes Ekaterina Semenchuk, Vitalij Kowaljow, and Evan LeRoy Johnson. Antonino Fogliani conducts the production.
Ruciński is set to return to the stage at the end of July for “La Boheme” at the Bayerische Staatsoper.
By Francisco Salazar
The Berkeley Symphony has announced that it has renewed Music Director Joseph Young’s contract through the 2024-25 season.
Young made his debut with the Berkeley Symphony in February 2019 and is the fourth Music Director in its 51-year history.
In a statement, Kate Kammeyer, Executive Director of Berkeley Symphony said, “We are thrilled that Joseph’s time as Music Director has been extended. His thoughtful creativity, incredible talent, and commitment to our community are vital to Berkeley Symphony’s future as we continue to reinforce its role as an indispensable artistic and cultural resource.”
Meanwhile, Young said, “Berkeley is an incredible hub of musical talent and passionate audiences. I am inspired by the organization’s and community’s extraordinary history of innovation and energy, and look forward to deepening my relationship here as we continue to push boundaries by reimagining classics and sharing some of the most ambitious music by today’s artists.”
Maestro Young first appeared with Berkeley Symphony to conduct the second symphonic concert of the 2018-19 Season in January 2019 when the concert’s original guest conductor became ill. He was then appointed as Music Director in April 2019 and has conducted nine Berkeley Symphony performances, including three free community concerts.
By Francisco Salazar
Nicole Car has shut down the Freelance Artist Relief Australia initiative she created during the pandemic and has announced the Nicole Car Award.
In a statement, the organization said, “International soprano Nicole Car today announced the winding up of Freelance Artist Relief Australia (FARA). Ms. Car established the charity in mid-2020 – to provide financial relief to those Australian freelance singers impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The statement added, “since then, over $400,000 has been distributed to artists in need. The conclusion of FARA happily coincides with the establishment of the Nicole Car Award – an annual prize to be given by the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition under the auspices of Music & Opera Singers Trust (MOST). This new award will enable the successful recipient to be flown and accommodated in Paris and receive an intensive period of mentoring sessions with Nicole Car herself.”
Car stated that, “I am honored to have been the founder and patron of FARA. The need amongst my Australian colleagues was immediate and urgent. I am so grateful to the countless opera lovers who donated generously to the Fund. Overwhelming thanks are due to my Australasian manager Patrick Togher and his fellow members of my Advisory Committee – Virginia Braden OAM, Jane Hemstritch, Maureen Wheeler AO, and Graham Pushee. I must pay tribute also to Ms. Anna d’Ersu, Ms. Natalie De Biasi, our honorary legal advisors Simpson Solicitors, Mr. Roland Gridiger OAM, and Ms. Amelia Gledhill from MOST. It is thrilling that MOST has inaugurated this annual prize in my name.”
Car recently finished a production of “Don Giovanni” at the San Francisco Opera and is set to sing “Il Trovatore” this fall at the Montreal Opera.
By Chris Ruel
The Fletcher School at Tufts University has appointed mezzo-soprano Carla Canales to Professor of Practice and Senior Fellow at The Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World. The appointment went into effect on July 1, 2022. Canales will lead the inaugural Cultural Diplomacy program, exploring how arts and culture can forward foreign policy objectives.
The mezzo has worked as an Arts Envoy of the U.S. Department of State since 2005 and most recently formed The Future of Diplomacy Initiative, co-sponsored by Future of Diplomacy Project of the Belfer Center at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University. Canales will continue at Harvard as a Fellow with the Social Innovation and Change Initiative (SICI) at the Center for Public Leadership.
“Carla Canales brings tremendous expertise in entrepreneurship and cultural diplomacy to Fletcher,” said Kelly Sims Gallagher, Academic Dean at Fletcher, in a press statement. “Her innovative approach to advancing foreign policy through shared connections across creative arts worldwide is an important addition to Fletcher’s robust international diplomacy curriculum,” she added. “We are delighted to welcome her to Fletcher.”
Along with her cultural diplomacy work, Canales is dedicated to providing voice to identity and cultural issues through The Canales Project, a non-profit arts and advocacy organization. Most recently, The Canales Project created the Hear Her Song initiative, which celebrated female leaders through songs written by female composers and songwriters. In 2021, The Canales Project received a National Endowment for the Arts Award.
“I’m deeply honored to have this special opportunity to contribute to Fletcher’s world-class community and their commitment to diplomacy. By harnessing the immense power of the arts, I believe that cultural diplomacy can provide innovative solutions to some of today’s most pressing global challenges. I am looking forward to furthering the education and training in this important field at such a critical time for global affairs,” Canales stated in the press release.
