By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Courtesy of the Oslo Philharmonic)
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam has announced a new Music Director.
The orchestra has named Klaus Mäkëla as its Music Director Designate beginning his new post in 2027.
The conductor first led the ensemble in 2020 and during the 2022-23 season, Mäkelä will conduct the orchestra in five programs. Throughout the following years, the conductor will continue to collaborate with the orchestra in its lead-up to taking his position during the 2027-28 season.
Currently, Mäkelä is the Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of Orchestre de Paris, and Artistic Director of the Turku Music Festival. He is an exclusive Decca artist and the first conductor to sign to the historic label since Riccardo Chailly made his debut in 1978. He has since recorded the complete Sibelius symphonies with the Oslo Philharmonic as his first project for the label.
By David Salazar
Baltimore Concert Opera has announced a name change and its 2022-23 season.
The Company revealed that it will now go under the name of Opera Baltimore, which reflects its intention to stage operas as part of its annual programming, which includes the 2022-23 season.
The season will kick off with “Opera on the Avenue – A Celebration of Anne Wiggins Brown,” a concert starring Adrienne Danrich as she explores the story of opera singer Anne Wiggins Brown, the first interpreter of the role of Bess in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”
Performance Date: Oct. 8, 2022
The company will then present Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” in a semi-staged concert at the Engineers club.”
Performance Date: Nov. 18 & 20, 2022
That will be followed by a fully-staged performance of “La Traviata” at Stephen Hall Theatre.
Performance Date: March 24 & 26, 2023
The season comes to a close with “Faust” in a semi-staged concert production at the Engineers Club.
Performance Date: April 28 & 30, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Teatro Real and Gran Teatre del Liceu have announced a new collaboration.
The companies noted that they will produce six co-productions and a subscription series between the two houses for four operas.
The heads of the two theaters met on June 13 in Barcelona with the head of the Liceu, Salvador Alemany noting that it is the third time that the two theaters meet.
The co-productions that the two theaters have agreed to are “Eugene Onegin,” “Jenufa,” “La Fanciulla del West,” “Rusalka,” “Maria Stuarda,” and “La Sonnambula.” The two companies will also produce “Dido & Aeneas” with William Christie and Blanca Li.
The subscription series will feature “Il Trittico” and “Macbeth” from the Liceu and “Nixon in China” and “Il Turco in Italia” from the Teatro Real.
By Francisco Salazar
The Rai Orchestra in Torino has announced its 2022-23 season.
Here is a look at the vocal performances set for the season.
Fabio Luisi conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with soloists Valentina Farcas and Wiebke Lehmkuhl.
Performance Date: Oct. 19 & 20, 2022
Fabio Luisi conducts soloists Uliana Alexyuk Valetina Stadler, Nicky Spence, and Tomas Tomasson in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Performance Date: Dec. 23, 2022
Daniele Gatti conducts Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 with soloists Jessica Pratt, Michele Losier, and Bernard Richter.
Performance Date: Jan. 16, 2023
Fabio Luisi conducts a Wagner program celebrating Easter. Gun-Brit Barkmin is the soloist.
Performance Date: April 6, 2023
Other major artists that will appear include Kirill Petrenko, Pablo Heras-Casado, Ottavio Dantone, Robert Trevino, Juraj Valčuha, James Conlon, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Kian Soltani, and Marie-Ange Nguci.
By Francisco Salazar
The International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition has announced its 2022 winners.
American countertenor Key’mon Murrah won first place while Ukrainian bass-baritone Nikita Ivasechko took home second place. Finally, third place went to South African bass Rueben Mbonambi.
In total 119 singers performed in the final rounds and 15 singers went to the finals concert.
The jury was headed by Guntars Kirsis, Michael Ajzenstadt, David Gowland, Christoph Meyer, Guy Montavon, Hein Mulders, Björn Peters, Henning Ruhe, Christina Scheppelmann, Florian Scholz, Christoph Seuferle, Christian Jérôme Timme, and Melissa Wegner.
The Media Jury was headed by Jane Carty, Martin Fichter-Wöß, Albert Garriga Puig, Inese Lūsina, Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča, Marina Nasardinova, Christophe Rizoud, Ieva Rozentale, and Bo van der Meulen.
By Francisco Salazar
The Teatro La Fenice is set to present a new production of Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes.”
Andrew Staples will lead the production in the title role while Emma Bell will sing the role of Ellen Orford and Mark S. Doss will sing the role of Captain Balstrode.
The cast will be rounded out by Sara Fulgoni, Patricia Westley, Jessica Cale, Cameron Becker, Sion Goronwy, Rosalind Plowright, Eamonn Mulhall, Alex Otterburn, Laurence Meikle, and Pietro Moretti.
Juraj Valcuha will conduct the new production by Paul Curran which will see Costumes and Sets by Gary McCann and light design by Fabio Barettin.
The opera will be presented from June June 24 through July 2, 2022.
By Afton Wooten
The 11th annual International Meistersinger Academy (IMA), which takes place in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, has announced the 2022 participants.
Among the singers chosen are Olivia Boen, Sarah Gilford, Eirin Rognerud, Ava Dodd, Shannon Keegan, Maya Yahav Gour, Xenia Thomas, Beatriz Miranda, George Vîbran, Liam Bonthrone, Jacob Scharfman, Tamás Fazakas, Matthew Cairns, Andrew Hamilton, Pawel Horodyski, William Meinert, Zachary Rioux, and William Guanbo Su.
The program will run from July 17 through August 16. Consisting of role studies, lessons and coachings, masterclasses, many concerts, and two opera gala concerts with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the participants will also work with agents, artistic directors, casting directors, and have a chance to make a demo recording.
IMA’s first performance is a night of solo Oratorio, choir and orchestra works by Mendelssohn on June 26. Concerts with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra are on July 20 and 21. Gabor Hontvari conducts.
Artistic director of IMA Prof. Dr. HC Mult. Edith Wiens is joined by faculty including mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender, Malcolm Martineau, Thomas Lausmann, Tobias Truniger, and many more opera specialists.
By David Salazar
© photo : Eléna Bauer/OnP
On June 30, 2022, the Opéra National de Paris is set to present “Après la fatigue du jour,” a directing workshop by Victoria Sitjà.
The event aims to honor the legacy of German lied as well as the aesthetic of Pina Bausch. Audiences will hear music by Purcell, Strauss, Schubert, Khatchatourian, Villa-Lobos, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Loewe, Beethoven, Brahms, and Wolf, among many others.
The performers will include sopranos Illanah Lobel-Torres, Lise Nougier, Martina Russomanno, and Kseniia Proshina; mezzo-soprano Marine Chagnon; tenor Kiup Lee; baritones Alexander Ivanov, Alexander York, Yiorgo Ioannou, and bass Alejandro Baliñas Vietes. Pianists include Hugo Mathieu, Carlos Sanchis Aguirre, Ramon Theobald, and Federico Tibone.
This program is part of the company’s annual opportunity for the resident director of the Académie to work with singers and musicians to put together a theatrical and musical program. The showcase is prepared over the course of three weeks of rehearsals.
By Logan Martell
On July 25, 2022, Opera Orlando will launch its annual training initiative for younger singers, titled “Summer Institute for the Next Generation of Singers,” or “SINGS!”
The program is a weeklong intensive meant to help students aged 15-20 who are interested in pursuing a career in classical singing. Students will receive coaching from OO staff and teaching artists on solo and ensemble repertoire, professional development with new headshots and updated resumes, acting workshops, yoga classes, vocal health seminars, vocal anatomy lessons, and more. Each student will also participate in a masterclass by Grammy Award-winning baritone Gabriel Preisser.
The intensive will culminate in a public concert, followed by a reception for the students, their parents, and the audience.
“Opera Orlando developed this program to be an informative and professional-level week of training to help high school singers navigate and prepare for college auditions, while also giving them insight into how best to build a lifelong career in classical music,” said education director Sarah Purser in an official press statement issued by the organization. “I am looking forward to the students achieving their own personal goals, improving their musicianship, and gaining the confidence needed to take their career to the next level, as well as growing together as an ensemble.”
By Francisco Salazar
Jonas Kaufmann’s upcoming Waldbühne in Berlin concert has been postponed.
According to the concert presenter Semmel-Concerts, “the planned concert with Jonas Kaufmann in the Berlin Waldbühne in August 2022 will not take place due to production technical reasons.”
As a result, the concert will be rescheduled for July 8, 2023. Jonas Kaufmann and Rachel Willis-Sørensen will be accompanied by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jochen Rieder.
All purchased tickets will be valid for the new date or can be returned to the pre-sale location where they were purchased.
Kaufmann next takes the stage in London for a production of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Pagliacci” before going on tour. He also performs “Fidelio” in the middle of August.
